The hadith has numerous corroborating reports; see “I Am the Supplication of My Father Abraham,” nos. 1545 and 1546. Ibn Asakir’s version of the hadith is more complete, for it mentions his chest being opened and sewn up, and the Seal of Prophethood being placed between his shoulders. He said: “No sooner had they turned away from me than it was as though I beheld the event with my own eyes.”
- “You will eagerly seek positions of authority, but they will be a cause of remorse [and regret] on the Day of Resurrection. What an excellent wet nurse, and what an evil weaner!”
Al-Bukhari recorded it (13/107, Fath al-Bari), as did al-Nasa’i (2/187–188 and 304) and Ahmad (2/476), through several routes from Ibn Abi Dhi’b, from Sa‘id al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The wording is al-Bukhari’s, apart from the addition, which occurs in the other two reports. Both of them phrase it: “What an excellent wet nurse …” It also appears thus in another narration recorded by Ahmad (2/448): Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us: Ibn Abi Dhi’b informed us of it, except that he said: “What an evil wet nurse, and what an excellent weaner!” Thus the wording was reversed for him—I mean Yazid ibn Harun—despite his trustworthiness and precision.
Abu al-Hasan al-Sindi, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, said: “ ‘What an excellent wet nurse’ means the state that leads one to authority, namely life. ‘What an evil weaner’ means the state that cuts one off from authority, namely death. That is, their lives are excellent, while their deaths are wretched. And Allah Most High knows best.”
Al-Bukhari also recorded the hadith in suspended form, through another route, as a statement of Abu Hurayrah. However, its chain of transmission includes Abdullah ibn Humran, who is truthful, though Ibn Hibban said of him in The Trustworthy Narrators: “He makes mistakes.” Therefore, his contrary report carries no weight, especially since an addition transmitted by a trustworthy narrator is accepted.