“A Bedouin approached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was travelling and took hold of his she-camel’s halter …”—the hadith—though without the words, “and perform Hajj to the House,” etc. Ahmad narrated it (5/417) with an authentic chain meeting the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim. This portion also has another corroborating report in a mursal narration from Abu Qilabah: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon and said…” He then mentioned it, adding: “Perform Hajj and Umrah, and be upright, and your affairs will be set right.”

1478 — “Trials like portions of a pitch-dark night are looming over you. Those most likely to be saved from them are one who dwells on a lofty peak, subsisting on the milk of his sheep, or a man beyond the mountain passes, holding his horse’s reins and living off what his sword brings him.”

Al-Hakim narrated it (2/92–93) through ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUthman ibn Khuthaym, from Nafiʿ ibn Jubayr, from Nafiʿ ibn Sarjis, who heard Abu Hurayrah say: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say it. Al-Hakim said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic.” Al-Dhahabi concurred.

I say: Its narrators are trustworthy and among Muslim’s transmitters, notwithstanding some weakness in Ibn Khuthaym, except for Nafiʿ ibn Sarjis. Ibn Hibban included him among the trustworthy narrators (1/237) and said: “His honorific was Abu Saʿid. He narrated from Abu Waqid al-Laythi, and ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUthman ibn Khuthaym narrated from him.” Ibn Abi Hatim said likewise (4/1/452–453), adding Abu Hurayrah to his teachers. He then related from ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who said: I heard my father say, regarding Nafiʿ ibn Sarjis. I asked: “How are his hadiths?” He replied: “I know nothing but good concerning him.”

1479 — “He would not give any of us preference over another in the division of”