‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Muharibi narrated to us: Rushdayn ibn Kurayb narrated to us, from his father, who said: “I was leading Ibn ‘Abbas through the alley of Abu Lahab after he had lost his sight. He said: ‘I heard my father say: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say...’” Then he cited it.

I say: This chain of transmission consists of trustworthy narrators, all of them narrators of the two Sahihs, apart from Rushdayn ibn Kurayb, who is weak, as stated in al-Taqrib. Moreover, he transmitted it with inconsistent wording: sometimes as cited above, and at other times as an incident that occurred during the lifetime of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and in his presence. Thus, Abu Ya‘la narrated in his Musnad (4/1580): Al-Hasan ibn Hammad al-Kufi informed us; ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Muharibi informed us, from Ibn Kurayb, from his father, who said: “I was leading Ibn ‘Abbas through the alley of Abu Lahab, and he said: ‘O Kurayb, have we reached such-and-such a place?’ I said: ‘You are at it now.’ He said: ‘Al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib related to me that, while I was with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in this place, a man came strutting in his two cloaks and looking at his sides, full of self-admiration. Then Allah caused the earth to swallow him at this spot, and he will continue to sink into it until the Day of Resurrection.’”

This chain too consists of trustworthy narrators apart from Rushdayn. Al-Haythami cited it with this wording in al-Majma‘ (5/125) and said: “It was narrated by Abu Ya‘la, al-Tabarani, and al-Bazzar, with similar wording in abbreviated form; and it includes Rushdayn ibn Kurayb, who is weak.”

I say: The first wording is more likely to be correct, because it has a corroborating report from the hadith of ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar and Abu Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the wording: “While a man was dragging his lower garment, he was swallowed up; and he will continue to sink into the earth until the Day of Resurrection.” Al-Bukhari narrated it (4/73).