1217 — “Whoever supports his brother in his absence, Allah will support him in this world and the Hereafter.”

Al-Dīnawarī narrated it in al-Mujālasah (217/2—selected passages), al-Bayhaqī in al-Shuʿab (2/447/1), and al-Ḍiyāʾ in al-Mukhtārah (74/1), through Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥamzah al-Zubayrī: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad narrated to us, from Ḥumayd, from al-Ḥasan, from Anas, attributed to the Prophet. He said: “Al-Dāraqutnī said: Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd contradicted him, narrating it from al-Ḥasan, from ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn. And Allah knows best.”

I say: Al-Bayhaqī said the same. He then cited it from Yūnus, from al-Ḥasan, from ʿImrān, attributed to the Companion, and said: “It has also been narrated from Yūnus, through his chain, attributed to the Prophet.” He then narrated it through two routes from Yūnus, through this chain, attributed to the Prophet.

I say: Its narrators are trustworthy and are among the narrators of the two Shaykhs, al-Bukhārī and Muslim. However, al-Ḥasan—meaning al-Baṣrī—practised tadlīs and narrated it using the ambiguous “from” formula. I have found a supporting report in the hadith of Ismāʿīl ibn Muslim, from Muḥammad ibn al-Munkadir and Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir, attributed to the Prophet. Al-Silafī recorded it in Muʿjam al-Safar (226/2). Ismāʿīl ibn Muslim is weak on account of his memory, but he may be cited as corroboration. And Allah knows best.

1218 — “There is no year except that the one after it is worse, until you meet your Lord.”

Al-Tirmidhī recorded it (2/32) through Sufyān al-Thawrī, from al-Zubayr, from ʿAdī, who said: We entered upon Anas ibn Mālik and complained to him of what we were suffering at the hands of al-Ḥajjāj, whereupon he cited this hadith, attributed to the Prophet.

He said: “A good, authentic hadith.”