It was narrated by ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad in Zawaʾid al-Zuhd (p. 153), and from him by Abu Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilyah (6/97) and Abu Mansur ibn Ziyad in al-Arbaʿīn (folio 196/1), through Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Asadi: Thawr narrated to us from Khalid ibn Maʿdan, from him. This al-Asadi was very weak; indeed, al-Daraqutni and Ahmad declared him a liar, and Ahmad said in one report: “His hadiths are fabricated.”

The trustworthy narrator reported it as a statement of Khalid ibn Maʿdan, without going beyond him. Imam Ahmad said in al-Zuhd (384): ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Harith narrated to us; Thawr ibn Yazid narrated to me from Khalid ibn Maʿdan, who said—and then cited it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission; all its narrators are trustworthy and are among the narrators of the Ṣaḥīḥ collections. ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Harith was Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Makhzumi, Abu Muhammad al-Makki: a trustworthy Meccan narrator among Muslim’s narrators. There is no contradiction between this and the report attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, since the chains differ in the first place. It is also possible that the origin of this report attributed to the Successor was attributed to the Prophet, but that some narrators abbreviated it or did not take the trouble to trace it back to him. And Allah knows best.

1692 — “Allah has people whom He singles out with blessings for the benefit of His servants, and He allows them to retain those blessings so long as they give of them. But when they withhold them, He takes them away from them and transfers them to others.”

Ibn Abi al-Dunya narrated it in Qaḍaʾ al-Ḥawaʾij (no. 5), as did al-Tabarani in al-Awsaṭ (5295), Abu Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilyah (6/115 and 10/215), and al-Khatib in al-Tarikh (9/459), through Muhammad ibn Hassan al-Samti: ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd al-Himsi narrated to us; al-Awzaʿi narrated to us from ʿAbdah ibn Abi Lubabah, from Ibn ʿUmar, who attributed it to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with this wording.

I say: This is a weak chain of transmission. Muhammad ibn Hassan al-Samti was truthful, but weak in hadith, as al-Hafiz said. As for ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd al-Himsi, al-Azdi declared him weak.