“He is a shaykh.” Ibn ʿAdi said: “I hope there is nothing objectionable about him.” Ibn Hibban listed him in al-Thiqat (6/309).

I say: In the case of someone like him, one may hesitate between judging his hadith weak and judging it sound; perhaps the former is more likely. This is indicated by al-Hafiz’s description of him in al-Taqrib as “acceptable”—that is, when corroborated; otherwise, his hadith is weak, as he explicitly stated in its introduction. And Allah knows best.

The supplication itself, though not the account surrounding it, has been corroborated. Al-Tabarani transmitted it in al-Muʿjam al-Kabir (4/94/3710) from Khabbab al-Khuzaʿi, who said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say”—and he mentioned it. Al-Haythami said (10/180): “It contains someone whom I do not know.”

It also has another authentic supporting narration from Ibn ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them both, concerning what he, peace and blessings be upon him, would say in the evening and in the morning. It is referenced in al-Kalim al-Tayyib, annotation no. 14, and al-Mishkah (hadith no. 2397).

Note: The addition in brackets—“from his grandfather”—is omitted from al-Musnad, but it is established in al-Bazzar’s version. Al-Haythami said in Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid (10/136): “Ahmad and al-Bazzar transmitted it. Al-Bazzar’s chain of transmission is continuous, and its narrators are trustworthy; Ahmad’s narrators are likewise trustworthy, except that my copy of al-Musnad reads: ‘from Rabiḥ ibn Abi Saʿid, from his father,’ whereas al-Bazzar has: ‘from his father, from his grandfather.’”

I say: This is correct, as required by the context; Ahmad’s version is erroneous, because it necessarily entails