The third corroborating report is from Anas ibn Malik, attributed to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with the wording: “There are three things in which there is a cure for every illness except death: senna and sanut.” Muhammad said: “I forgot the third.” Al-Nasa’i, Samawayh, and al-Diya’ narrated it from Anas, as cited in al-Jami‘ al-Kabir (2/1/2).

Senna is a plant resembling henna; its flowers have a bluish tinge, and its seeds are flattened and elongated. The finest variety is the Hijazi type, known as Meccan senna, as stated in al-Mu‘jam al-Wasit.

Sanut means honey. It has also been said to mean a thick syrup, or cumin, as stated in al-Nihayah. In al-Wasit, it is definitively identified with the latter.

1799 — “Three practices will continue to persist in my Ummah: boasting about lineages, wailing for the dead, and belief in the influence of stellar phases (anwa’).”

Abu Ya‘la (3/975) and al-Diya’ (156/2) narrated it through Zakariyya ibn Yahya ibn ‘Umarah, from ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Suhayb, from Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said—and he then cited the hadith.

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are among al-Bukhari’s narrators. There is some critical discussion concerning Zakariyya, but it does not reduce his hadith below the rank of good, Allah willing. Al-Hafiz said: “Truthful, but makes mistakes.” The hadith also has corroborating reports from Abu Malik al-Ash‘ari and Abu Hurayrah, whose authentication has already been given under (733 and 734), with the wording: “Four practices in my Ummah ...” It is also reported from Abu Hurayrah with the wording: “Three ...”; it will appear after the next hadith.

Anwa’ is the plural of naw’: a star that sets in the west at dawn, together with the rising of another star