al-Athar (1/107), through Shuʿbah, from Saʿd ibn Ibrahim, who said: I heard Nafiʿ narrating from Ibn ʿUmar’s wife, from ʿAʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, as a Prophetic report with the same wording.
Ahmad also narrated it (6/55 and 98) by this route, except that he said, “a person” in place of “Ibn ʿUmar’s wife.” All the narrators in its chain are trustworthy, apart from Ibn ʿUmar’s wife, whom I have not identified; though she is presumably sound. Moreover, Sufyan al-Thawri omitted her from the chain and made the report directly from her husband, Ibn ʿUmar. Al-Tahawi narrated it through the route of Abu Hudhayfah: Sufyan narrated to us, from Saʿd, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, as a Prophetic report, in similar wording.
The narrators of this chain, too, are trustworthy and are among al-Bukhari’s narrators, except that he narrated from Abu Hudhayfah only in a supporting capacity. His name was Musa ibn Masʿud al-Nahdi. Al-Thawri had a stronger memory than Shuʿbah, were it not for the weakness of the one narrating from him. Al-Hafiz said of him: “Truthful, but poor in memory.”
When Abu Nuʿaym narrated it in al-Hilyah (3/174) through his route, he alluded to his weakness and gave preference to the first route, saying: “Thus did Abu Hudhayfah narrate it from al-Thawri, from Saʿd; while Ghundar and others narrated it from Shuʿbah, from Saʿd, from Nafiʿ, from a person—the original reads: Sinan!—from ʿAʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, in similar wording.”
However, the hadith has an established route from Ibn ʿUmar. Ibn Saʿd said in al-Tabaqat (3/430): “Ismaʿil ibn Masʿud informed us; he said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Idris informed us; he said: ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar informed us, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said”—and he then cited it in similar wording.
I say: This is an authentic chain; all its narrators are trustworthy and are among the narrators of the two Sahihs, apart from Ismaʿil ibn Masʿud. He was Abu Masʿud al-Jahdari al-Basri, and he was trustworthy.