1267 — “After me, tribulations like patches of a dark night will surely engulf my Ummah. A man will be a believer in the morning and an unbeliever by evening, or a believer in the evening and an unbeliever by morning. Some people will sell their religion for a trifling worldly gain.”

Al-Hakim (4/438) narrated it from Kathir ibn Murrah, from Ibn Umar, who attributed it to the Prophet. He said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic,” and al-Dhahabi agreed with him. It is as they both said. It also has corroborating reports; see “Hasten …,” no. 758.

1268 — “No man gives charity without thereby releasing the jaws of seventy devils.”

Ibn Khuzaymah narrated it in his Sahih (1/248/2), as did al-Hakim (1/417), Ahmad (5/350), and al-Tabarani in al-Awsat (1/90/1—Zawa'id al-Mu'jamayn), through Abu Mu'awiyah Muhammad ibn Khazim, from al-A'mash, from Ibn Buraydah, from his father, who attributed it to the Prophet. Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to the criteria of the two Sahih compilers,” and al-Dhahabi agreed with him.

1269 — “When a curse leaves its utterer’s mouth, it looks about: if it finds an avenue to the one at whom it was directed, it enters him; otherwise, it returns to the one from whom it came.”

Ahmad (1/408) and al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu'ab (2/92/2) narrated it through two routes from Umar ibn Dharr, from al-Ayzar ibn Jarwal al-Hadrami, who said: “There was a man among us called Abu Umayr. He was a brother to Abdullah—that is, Ibn Mas'ud—and Abdullah would visit him in his home. Once he came to him but did not find him at home, so he went in to his wife. While he was with her, she sent her maidservant on an errand, and the maid delayed. She said: ‘She has taken too long. May Allah curse her!’ Abdullah then left and sat by the door.”