Al-Thaqafī also narrated it in al-Fawāʾid (vol. 9, 5/2), from Saʿīd ibn al-Ṣalt: Abū Ẓabyah narrated to us, from Hilāl ibn Yisāf, from Abū Hurayrah, without mentioning al-Agharr between them. Al-Bazzār also recorded it in his Musnad (no. 3), and al-Bayhaqī narrated it from him: Abū Kāmil narrated to us; Abū ʿAwānah narrated to us, from Manṣūr, from Hilāl ibn Yisāf, from Abū Hurayrah, with the same wording. Al-Bazzār said: “We know of no narration from him, peace and blessings be upon him, except through this chain. ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus also narrated it from al-Thawrī, from Manṣūr. It has also been narrated from Abū Hurayrah as a report attributed to the Companion, but its attribution to the Prophet is more authentic.”

I say: This is likewise how it appears there: al-Agharr is not mentioned in its chain of transmission. The apparent sense of his statement is that ʿĪsā’s narration is likewise so. I do not know whether the narration from him came to al-Bazzār in that form, or whether he was imprecise in treating his narration as identical to that of Abū ʿAwānah. In either case, the chain is also authentic, because Hilāl was a Successor well known for narrating from Companions such as ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn and ʿĀʾishah, and he lived to meet ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him.

Al-Mundhirī said in al-Targhīb (2/238): “Al-Bazzār and al-Ṭabarānī narrated it, and its narrators are among the narrators of the authentic collections.” Al-Ṭabarānī recorded it in al-Awsaṭ (6533) through the route of Ḥudayj ibn Muʿāwiyah: Ḥuṣayn narrated to us, from Hilāl ibn Yisāf, from al-Agharr, with the same wording. He said: “No one narrated it from Ḥuṣayn except Ḥudayj.”

I say: He is truthful but makes mistakes, as al-Ḥāfiẓ stated in al-Taqrīb. Thus, his reports may be used as corroboration, and this supports the inclusion of al-Agharr in the chain. Allah knows best. The hadith has another route, narrated by Ḥafṣ al-Ghāḍirī, from Mūsā al-Ṣaghīr, from ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUtbah, from Abū Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the wording: “Even after the punishment has befallen him.”