—Thābit (may Allah be pleased with him).

These parallel reports raise the ḥadīth to the level of being extremely sound.

As for the narration of Ibn Khuzaymah transmitted by Aḥmad (5/214), all of its transmitters are trustworthy except that it contains Ibn Lahīʿah, whose memory was weak.

Regarding the report from Ibn ʿAmr, al-Haythamī (341) said: “Its transmitters are those relied upon by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, apart from Aḥmad ibn Nāfiʿ al-Ṭaḥḥān, the shaykh of al-Ṭabarānī.” That is all he mentioned; he offered no evaluation of the man, as though he had found no biographical entry for him—and I, too, have not discovered one. All that is known is that he was an Egyptian, as stated in al-Ṭabarānī’s al-Muʿjam al-Ṣaghīr (p. 10).

Furthermore, the ḥadīth was also related by Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, as a marfūʿ report with the same wording. Muslim (1/84) and Aḥmad (2/331) recorded it through several chains from Hishām, though without the phrase, “for that will remove the thought from him.” Abū Dāwūd (4121) likewise recorded it up to the words “Āmantu billāh (I believe in Allah),” which is one of Muslim’s versions.

117 – “Satan comes to one of you and says, ‘Who created such-and-such? Who created such-and-such? Who created such-and-such?’ until he finally says, ‘Who created your Lord?!’ When he reaches that point, let him seek refuge with Allah and put an end to the thought.”

It was recorded by al-Bukhārī (2/321), Muslim, and Ibn al-Sunnī.

This ḥadīth has another chain from Abū Hurayrah with the wording: “People will soon question one another until someone says, ‘This is Allah who created the creation—so who created Allah?’ When they say that, recite: ‘Allāhu Aḥad, Allāhuṣ-Ṣamad, lam yalid, wa lam yūlad, wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan aḥad (Allah is One, Allah is the Self-Sufficient; He begets not, nor is He begotten, and there is none comparable to Him).’ Then spit lightly to your left three times and seek refuge with Allah from Satan.”