they would place it on his head. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Use a fragrant perfume in place of the blood.” Ibn Hibban recorded it (1057).

I say: Its chain of transmission is authentic. Abu Dawud and others also recorded a similar report from Buraydah, and its chain is likewise authentic.

Note: The addition enclosed in square brackets is found in al-Tabarani and Ibn Mandah, and retaining it is correct, as in al-Tahdhib.

2453 — “Satan approaches one of you in a terrifying guise, and then he goes out in the morning and tells people [about it]!”

Al-Nasai recorded it in The Deeds of Day and Night (913), as did Ibn Majah (2/451) and Ahmad (2/344), through Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, from Umar ibn Saʿid ibn Abi Husayn, who said: Ata ibn Abi Rabah narrated to me from Abu Hurayrah, who said: “A man came and said, ‘I saw that my head had been struck, and I saw it rolling away.’” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then said: “...” and cited it.

I say: This hadith is authentic; its narrators are trustworthy and are among the narrators of the two Shaykhs. It has a corroborating report from Jabir to similar effect. Muslim (7/55) and al-Nasai (912) recorded it, and al-Hakim also included it in al-Mustadrak (4/302), but he was mistaken. Al-Nasai entitled the hadith: “The prohibition against a person relating how Satan toyed with him in his sleep.”