Abī Ḥabīb, from Marthad ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Al-Dūlābī also narrated it (1/110), saying: Muḥammad ibn Salamah narrated it to us through this chain.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission; all its narrators are reliable and meet Muslim’s criteria.

1843 — “The best people of the East are ʿAbd al-Qays: people embraced Islam reluctantly, whereas they embraced it willingly.”

It was recorded by Ibn Ḥibbān (2301), al-Ṭabarānī (12970), and al-Bazzār, as cited in al-Majmaʿ (10/49), through Wahb ibn Yaḥyā ibn Zamām: Muḥammad ibn Sawāʾ narrated to us, from Shubayl ibn ʿUzrah, from Abū Jamrah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, attributed to the Prophet, with this wording. However, al-Ṭabarānī and al-Bazzār do not include its second clause. Al-Haythamī said: “I do not know Wahb ibn Yaḥyā ibn Zamām, but the rest of its narrators are reliable.”

I say: But the hadith has a corroborating report narrated by Abū al-Qulūs Zayd ibn ʿAlī, who said: One of the delegation of ʿAbd al-Qays that came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, narrated to me; then he mentioned it, attributing it to the Prophet, within a longer account. Aḥmad recorded it (4/206), and its chain of transmission is authentic. Its first clause also has a corroborating report from the hadith of Abū Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet. Al-Haythamī said: “Al-Ṭabarānī narrated it in al-Awsaṭ, and its narrators are reliable.”

I say: Abū Yaʿlā also narrated it (4/1441), but he stopped it at Abū Hurayrah. I do not know whether this is how the report was transmitted to him, or whether its attribution to the Prophet was omitted by some copyists.

I say: Its chain is good. Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī likewise judged it so in Maḥajjat al-Qurb fī Faḍl al-ʿArab (folio 49/1), after attributing it to al-Ṭabarānī. Abū Saʿīd ibn al-Aʿrābī also recorded it in al-Muʿjam (85/1), attributed to the Prophet, with wording like that of al-Ṭabarānī.