I say: My view that this Abdullah is al-Umari is more likely, contrary to al-Haythami’s statement in al-Majmaʿ (8/63): “Ahmad narrated it, and its chain contains Abdullah ibn Saʿid al-Maqburi, who is abandoned.”

I say: What led him to state decisively that he was Abdullah al-Maqburi was the latter’s being well known for narrating from his father, Saʿid al-Maqburi. This assumption thus led him to that conclusion. Yet al-Umari too was among those who narrated from Saʿid al-Maqburi, so further evidence was needed to establish whether he was this one or that one. The evidence for my preferred conclusion is that Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, placed this hadith among other reports in which Surayj narrated to us from Abdullah, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn Umar. The Abdullah in those reports is undoubtedly al-Umari: firstly, because of his frequent narration from Nafiʿ; and secondly, because they have not mentioned any narration by Abdullah al-Maqburi from Nafiʿ. And Allah knows best.

I believe that al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar held the view I have preferred, for he mentioned this hadith in al-Fath (11/70) through this narration of Ahmad and made no comment upon it. It is known among those acquainted with this field that al-Hafiz’s silence in such a case means that the hadith is good. Had he considered him to be al-Maqburi, he would not, Allah willing, have remained silent about it; rather, he would have clarified his status, since he is abandoned and accused of lying. And Allah knows best.

Dawud ibn Qays also corroborated him. He said: “I heard Saʿid al-Maqburi say it,” relating something similar, except that he did not attribute the hadith to the Prophet, and he added: “I said: ‘May Allah set you right, Abu Abd al-Rahman! I had only hoped to hear something good from you both.’” This Dawud ibn Qays is al-Farra, a trustworthy narrator and one of Muslim’s narrators, so his narration is more sound. However, I found another chain for the version attributed to the Prophet which lends it further strength. Abu Nuʿaym recorded it in al-Hilyah (8/198) through Ibrahim ibn Yusuf al-Hadrami—the original has al-Misri, but this is a scribal error—who narrated to us from Imran ibn Uyaynah, from Abd al-Aziz ibn Abi Rawwad, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn Umar, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “No man should sit with two men, when they are conversing privately, unless he has their permission.”

He said: “This is singular among the narrations of Abd al-Aziz. Imran, the brother of Sufyan, was narrated from solely by Ibrahim ibn Yusuf, as Abu al-Hasan al-Hafiz al-Daraqutni stated.”