The phrase, “Sheep are a blessing,” has been authentically reported from Umm Hani and Aishah through two authentic chains, both of which have preceded under no. 773.

Abu Ya‘la recorded it (2/477) through Abdullah ibn Abdullah, from Ibn [Abi] Layla, from al-Bara’, attributing it to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. This Abdullah is Abu Ja‘far al-Razi, one whose reports may be cited in corroboration, due to his poor retention despite his honesty. Talhah ibn Amr also narrated it from ‘Ata’ as a mursal report, with the wording: “Sheep are a bestowed blessing; camels are an adornment for their owners; and goodness is tied to the forelocks of horses until the Day of Resurrection.”

Ma‘mar ibn al-Muthanna recorded it in The Horses (3/2): “Umar ibn ‘Imran al-Sudusi told me: Talhah ibn Amr narrated to us,” with this chain.

I say: This Talhah is al-Hadrami, the Meccan, and he too is abandoned.

1764 — “The four sisters—Maimunah, Umm al-Fadl, Salma, and Asma bint Umays, their sister through their mother—were believers.”

Ibn Sa‘d recorded it in The Classes (8/138); Ibn Mandah in Knowledge (2/328/2); al-Hakim (4/32); Ibn ‘Asakir in The History (1/239/2); and Abu Mansur ibn ‘Asakir in The Forty Hadiths on the Virtues of the Mothers of the Believers (p. 91), through several routes from ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Muhammad al-Darawardi, from Ibrahim ibn ‘Uqbah—the brother of Musa ibn ‘Uqbah—from Kurayb, the freed slave of Abdullah ibn Abbas, from Abdullah ibn Abbas, who attributed it to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to Muslim’s criteria.” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him, and it is as they both said. Abu Mansur said: