the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him—or, she said, to defend the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would say the words quoted above.”

Al-Tirmidhī said: “A good, authentic, singular hadith.” Al-Ḥākim said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic,” and al-Dhahabī concurred.

In another version recorded by him, Ibn Abī al-Zinād narrated it from his father and Hishām ibn ʿUrwah. Aḥmad also narrated it (6/72) from him, from his father, from ʿUrwah, with the same wording. It therefore appears that ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād had two teachers for this report: his father, Abū al-Zinād, and Hishām ibn ʿUrwah. At times he narrated it from one of them, at times from the other, and at times from both together. Allah knows best. He himself was trustworthy, though some scholars criticized him; the details of this were thoroughly examined by the eminent scholar ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Muʿallimī al-Yamānī, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, in his book al-Tankīl. Whoever wishes may consult it (1/33–34).

1658 — “Indeed, Allah tests His servant through what He has given him. Whoever is content with what Allah has apportioned for him, Allah blesses it for him and increases it; but whoever is not content, He does not bless it for him.”

Aḥmad (5/24) narrated it from Abū al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Shikhkhīr, who said: One of the Banū Sulaym related it to me—and I do not think that he was other than someone who had seen the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.

I say: This chain of transmission is authentic according to Muslim’s criteria, and the anonymity of a Companion does not impair it.

1659 — “Indeed, Allah will send a wind from Yemen, softer than silk. It will not leave anyone with even the weight of a grain of faith in his heart without taking his soul.”

Muslim (1/76), al-Bukhārī in al-Tārīkh (3/109/1), al-Sirāj in his Musnad (5/88–89), and al-Ḥākim (4/455) narrated it through Ṣafwān ibn Sulaym, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sulaymān al-Agharr, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said the words quoted above. Al-Ḥākim said: