Maymun ibn Ajlan was corroborated by al-Dahhak ibn Humrah in the suspended report recorded by Abu Nu‘aym, though this al-Dahhak is weak. The hadith also has a corroborating report from Abu Hurayrah. It was transmitted by al-Bukhari in al-Adab al-Mufrad (no. 245) and by al-Tirmidhi, who graded it good in one recension; and Ibn Hibban authenticated it (712). Its chain of transmission is suitable for corroboration, as I explained in my second critical edition of Mishkat (5015). Abu Ya‘la also has, through this chain of transmission, another hadith from Anas concerning the virtue of shaking hands when meeting; it was mentioned earlier under hadith 525.

2633 — “The souls of the martyrs are within green birds. They have lamps suspended from the Throne, and they roam freely throughout Paradise wherever they wish; then they return to those lamps. Their Lord looks upon them and asks, ‘Do you desire anything?’ They reply, ‘What could we desire, when we roam freely throughout Paradise wherever we wish?’ He does this to them three times. When they realize that they will not be left alone until they ask, they say, ‘Our Lord, we wish You to return our souls to our bodies so that we may be killed in Your cause once again!’ When He sees that they have no need, they are left alone.”

It was transmitted by Muslim (6/38–39), al-Tirmidhi (3014), al-Darimi (2/206), Ibn Majah (2/185), al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu‘ab (4/19–20), al-Tayalisi (38/294), Ibn Abi Shaybah (5/308), Hammad in al-Zuhd (154), and al-Tabari (8206), through several routes from al-A‘mash, from ‘Abdullah ibn Murrah, from Masruq, who said: