2578 — “Shall I not tell you of something better—or more abundant—than your remembrance by night and by day, and by day and by night? That you say: ‘Glory be to Allah, as numerous as what He has created; glory be to Allah, filling what He has created; glory be to Allah, as numerous as what is in the earth and the heaven; glory be to Allah, filling what is in the heaven and the earth; glory be to Allah, filling what He has created; glory be to Allah, as numerous as all that His Book has enumerated; and glory be to Allah, filling everything.’ And that you say: ‘Praise be to Allah,’ the like of that.”

This hadith is narrated by Abu Umamah al-Bahili, Sudayy ibn Ajlan, and is attributed to the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him. It has several routes from him.

The first is from Ibn Ajlan, from Musʿab ibn Muhammad ibn Shurahbil, from Muhammad ibn Saʿd ibn Zurarah, from Abu Umamah: the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, passed by him while he was moving his lips, and asked, “What are you saying, O Abu Umamah?” He replied, “I am remembering my Lord.” He said: … and then cited it.

Al-Nasa’i recorded it in ʿAmal al-Yawm wa al-Laylah (no. 166); Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (2331—Mawarid al-Zam’an); al-Ruyani in his Musnad (30/221/1); and al-Tabarani in al-Muʿjam al-Kabir (8122), though there is confusion in its chain of transmission. I say: This is a good chain; all its narrators are trustworthy, notwithstanding the well-known difference of opinion concerning Muhammad ibn Ajlan.

The second route is from Salim ibn Abi al-Jaʿd, who said: Abu Umamah narrated to me something similar. Al-Hakim recorded it (1/513), and through him al-Bayhaqi in al-Daʿawat (no. 132), as did Ahmad (5/249). Al-Hakim said, “Authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim.” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him, and it is as they said.