“Authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim, though neither of them recorded it.” Al-Dhahabi concurred with him.

I say: Muslim did in fact record it (7/178): Zuhayr ibn Harb narrated to me; Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us, through the same chain. However, he said, “the Ansar” in place of “Aslam,” while the remainder is exactly the same. He also narrated a corroborating report from Abu Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet, with the wording: “Quraysh and the Ansar . . .” The rest is the same, except that he did not mention, “and all those of Banu Kaʿb.”

1456 — “Be lenient, and you will be treated leniently.”

Ahmad (1/248) and Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Rubaʿi in A Section of His Hadiths (212/2) narrated it from al-Walid ibn Muslim, from Ibn Jurayj, from ʿAtaʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbas, attributing it to the Prophet.

I say: Its narrators are trustworthy, were it not for al-Walid’s use of the ambiguous “from” formula. However, Ibn ʿAsakir recorded it in The History of Damascus (17/450/1) through al-Hakam ibn Musa Abu Salih: al-Walid ibn Muslim narrated to us; Ibn Jurayj informed us that he had heard ʿAtaʾ, through the same chain. It was also narrated through Hafs ibn Ghiyath and Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash, from Ibn Jurayj, through the same chain. In Ibn ʿAyyash’s narration, Ibn Jurayj likewise explicitly states that he heard it. Al-Diyaʾ also recorded it in al-Mukhtarah (63/11/1) through al-Tabarani: ʿAmr ibn ʿUthman narrated to us; al-Walid ibn Muslim narrated to us; Ibn Jurayj narrated to us from ʿAtaʾ, through the same chain. Thus, the chain is connected and the hadith is authentic, praise be to Allah.

Ibn ʿAsakir also recorded it (2/94 and 17/451/1) through Kharijah, from Ibn Jurayj, from ʿAtaʾ as a mursal report, with the wording: “Be lenient, and you will be treated leniently.” He said: “Abu Muhammad ibn al-Akfani told us: He is Kharijah ibn Musʿab.”

I say: Mandal ibn ʿAli al-ʿAnazi also followed him in Ibn ʿAsakir’s work. Both of them are weak. What is correct regarding this hadith is that it is reported from Ibn ʿAbbas with a continuous chain to the Prophet, as stated above. (See Addendum no. 440/24).