—(11/214), citing two other men who narrated from him—without mentioning either any criticism or commendation of him. Ibn Qaniʿ said: “He died in 284 AH.”

He was corroborated: Abu Nuʿaym recorded it in al-Hilyah (8/174): “ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us; Ismaʿil ibn ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; Nuʿaym ibn Hammad narrated to us,” with the same chain, except that he said: “that I should give precedence to the elder.” He also said: “Both ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Mubarak and ʿAbd Allah ibn Wahb narrated it from Usamah.”

I say: This indicates that neither Nuʿaym nor Ibn al-Mubarak was alone in narrating the hadith; rather, Usamah ibn Zayd alone narrated it from Nafiʿ. His hadith is good, if he is Usamah al-Laythi, the Medinan client of the Layth tribe. But if he is al-ʿAdawi, the Medinan client of ʿUmar, then he is weak. Both of them narrated from Nafiʿ, and Ibn al-Mubarak and Ibn Wahb narrated from both of them, so I could not determine which of the two is intended here.

Then I found more than one corroborator for Nuʿaym. Ahmad (2/138) and al-Bayhaqi (1/40) recorded it through two other routes from ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Mubarak, with the same chain. It also clarifies the circumstance in which it was said. Its wording is: “I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, using a toothstick, and he gave it to the eldest of the people. Then he said:” He then cited it in the wording of al-Hilyah.

Al-Bukhari recorded it in suspended form in his Sahih (1/284—Fath), through Nuʿaym ibn Hammad. The hadith master stated that Usamah was Usamah ibn Zayd al-Laythi, the Medinan. I do not know what evidence he based this on, although the eminent Ahmad Shakir followed him in this in his commentary on al-Musnad. Perhaps this was inferred from the great standing and learning of Imam ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Mubarak: had he meant the weak al-ʿAdawi, he would have made that clear. Or perhaps he had a practice whereby, when narrating from the trustworthy al-Laythi, he left his tribal affiliation unspecified, whereas when narrating from the other, weak narrator, he identified him by it. And Allah knows best.

It has also been corroborated in general. Al-Bukhari recorded it in suspended form, while al-Bayhaqi and others recorded it with a connected chain, through ʿAffan: Sakhr ibn Juwayriyyah narrated to us, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: