and said: “We know of no report from Ibn Abbas except through this route.”

I say: Its narrators are trustworthy, were it not for Fudayl’s poor retention. Nevertheless, al-Hafiz—or his teacher, al-Haythami—declared it authentic in Zawa'id al-Bazzar. In Majma' al-Zawa'id (10/78), he said: “Al-Bazzar narrated it, and its narrators are those of the Sahih collections, apart from Bishr ibn Mu'adh al-'Aqadi, who is trustworthy.”

Al-Suyuti attributed the hadith to al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman and declared it authentic in his work al-Hawi lil-Fatawi (2/131), as al-Mundhiri had done before him (2/227). It has a corroborating report from Abu Hurayrah, attributed to the Prophet, with the same meaning, except that it reads: “If he remembers Me within himself, I remember him within Myself …,” with the remainder being the same. It was recorded by al-Bukhari in al-Tawhid, Muslim in al-Dhikr (8/67), and Ahmad (2/251, 354, 405, 413, 480, 482), through several routes from him.

There is another corroborating report from Anas, attributed to the Prophet, like the hadith of Abu Hurayrah. Ahmad recorded it (3/138), and its chain is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim.

2012 — “Allah, Exalted is He, says: ‘My servant, I am as you think Me to be, and I am with you when you remember Me.’”

Al-Hakim recorded it (1/497) from al-Rabi' ibn Sabih, from al-Hasan, from Anas, who attributed it to the Prophet. He said: “It is singular and authentic.”

I say: It is authentic through corroborating evidence, but this chain itself is not, because al-Hasan—namely, al-Basri—practised tadlis.