I say: This is a weak chain of transmission because of ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn ʿUbaydullah, al-Suhaybi al-Himsi. Al-Dhahabi said: “They declared him weak, and al-Nasaʾi abandoned him.” Al-Hafiz said: “Weak.” Al-Haythami likewise said so (10/59).

I say: However, the hadith is authentic on account of corroborating evidence, for its first part has been authentically reported from the hadith of ʿAbdullah ibn Hawalah; it is cited in Fadaʾil al-Sham (The Virtues of al-Sham), no. 2. Al-Tabarani also recorded it (no. 7718) through ʿUfair ibn Maʿdan, who said that he heard Sulaym ibn ʿAmir narrating from Abu Umamah, attributing it to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with this wording, adding: “Whoever leaves al-Sham for elsewhere does so by His wrath, and whoever enters it does so by His mercy.” But ʿUfair is abandoned.

Al-Tabarani also narrated the other part from Abu Umamah in similar wording, attributed to the Companion; it has the ruling of a report attributed to the Prophet. Al-Haythami said (10/409): “Al-Tabarani narrated it, and its narrators have been declared trustworthy, despite some weakness among them.”

I say: It is recorded by him (7723) through Baqiyyah ibn al-Walid, from Yahya ibn Saʿid, from Khalid ibn Maʿdan, from Sulayman ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman, from Abu Umamah al-Bahili, who said: He then cited it as a report attributed to the Companion, in similar but longer wording. Baqiyyah practised tadlis and related it using an ambiguous “from” formula. However, he has another chain for it (no. 7780): Hajjaj ibn Ibrahim al-Azraq narrated to us: Ibn Wahb narrated to us; Muʿawiyah ibn Salih told me, from Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman, from Abu Umamah, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said—then he cited it in similar wording, but without: “without reckoning or punishment.” It is