by walking in this way.” Then he said: “Shall I not tell you something I heard from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him?” They said, “Indeed.” He said, “I heard him say,” and then cited it.

I say: This chain of transmission is weak. I did not recognize any of its narrators other than its Companion narrator, and I fear that a scribal corruption occurred in its copy of al-Tarikh. And Allah knows best. It then became clear to me that the aforementioned man was al-Miswar, but it had been written as al-Sawr! Al-Dhahabi mentioned him in al-Mizan and said: “He is not strong; this was stated by al-Azdi.” The same is found in al-Lisan. Ibn Abi Hatim likewise included him in his book, through reports from a number of reliable transmitters from him. Thus, his hadith is good when used in corroborative chains and supporting reports. I found for it a supporting report from the hadith of Rifa'ah ibn Rafi', traced back to the Prophet, with the same wording. Its beginning contains an addition, for whose sake I cited it in al-Da'ifah (1716), because of an unknown narrator in its chain of transmission. Thus, taken together, the hadith is good, as I mentioned there. And Allah knows best.

1689 — “All the hearts of the children of Adam are between two fingers of the fingers of the Most Merciful, like a single heart; He turns it however He wills.”

Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would say: “O Turner of hearts, turn our hearts toward Your obedience.”

Muslim (8/51), Ahmad (2/168 and 173), and al-Tabari (vol. 6, no. 6657, p. 219) narrated it from Haywah ibn Shurayh, who said: Abu Hani al-Khawlani informed me that he heard Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Hubuli say: I heard Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As say: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say it—and then he cited it.

1690 — “Every treacherous person will have a banner on the Day of Resurrection, by which he will be recognized at his rear.”