its chain of transmission, especially since it is also mentioned in a report from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud attributed to the Companion. However, that version states that he was the one who disputed with the angel of mercy; for this reason, I included it in the other book as no. 5254.

Moreover, the addition that Allah inspired the earth appears to be an interpolation, in view of Qatadah’s statement from al-Hasan at the end of the hadith: “When he sensed death ...” and so on. See Fath al-Bari and al-Ta'liq al-Raghib.

This hadith has also been narrated, both at length and in abbreviated form, from a number of other Companions. Al-Haythami cited their chains in Majma' al-Zawa'id (10/211–213), including a narration from Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan. In his hadith, the scholar said: “If I were to tell you that Allah does not forgive one who repents, I would be lying.” Its conclusion states: “So Allah forgave him.”

It was reported by Abu Ya'la (4/1775–1776), al-Tabarani (19/369/367), and Musnad al-Shamiyyin (1/349), through two routes from Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid ibn Jabir, who said: “[Ubaydah] ibn Abi al-Muhajir—or Abu Abd Rabb; al-Walid was uncertain—narrated to me: I heard Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan ...” and he related it.

I say: Its narrators are trustworthy, but no one besides Ibn Hibban declared Ubaydah ibn Abi al-Muhajir trustworthy, and he is known only through this narration. As for Abu Abd Rabb, he was an ascetic from Damascus and was truthful, as al-Dhahabi said. See Taysir al-Intifa'. The uncertainty mentioned occurs only in Abu Layla’s narration, not in that of al-Tabarani. The more likely view is that it is the hadith of Abu Abd Rabb, for this is the preserved version from al-Walid ibn Muslim in two other hadiths, one of which was previously cited as no. 1734. Ibn Majah and Ibn Hibban narrated both of them from him through al-Walid, with this chain. Ahmad (4/94) presented both as a single narration through Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak: Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid narrated to us, through the same chain. Thus, the chain is good, as al-Mundhiri said (4/78).

Among them is a narration from Abdullah ibn Amr, which names the first town Nasrah, and the other