ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn al-Haytham al-Dayraqulī narrated to us: Abū Tawbah—that is, al-Rabīʿ ibn Nāfiʿ—narrated to us: Muʿāwiyah ibn Salām narrated to us, from Zayd ibn Salām, who heard Abū Salām say: Abū Umāmah narrated to me: “A man said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, was Adam a prophet?’ He replied, ‘Yes, one to whom Allah spoke.’ He asked, ‘How many generations were there between him and Noah?’ He replied, ‘Ten generations.’ He asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, how many messengers were there?’ He replied, ‘Three hundred and fifteen.’”

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. Every narrator in it is trustworthy and among Muslim’s narrators, except al-Dayraqulī; and he is trustworthy and highly precise, as al-Khaṭīb stated in his Tārīkh (History) (11/78). Ibn Ḥibbān likewise stated this in al-Thiqāt (The Trustworthy Narrators) (8/423), and he was relied upon by al-Samʿānī in al-Ansāb (Genealogies) and by al-Dhahabī in al-Siyar (Biographies) (13/335–336).

The hadith was also reported by Ibn Ḥibbān in his Ṣaḥīḥ (Authentic Collection) (2085—Mawārid, Sources), Ibn Mandah in al-Tawḥīd (Oneness of God) (folio 104/2)—and, through his route, by Ibn ʿAsākir in Tārīkh Dimashq (History of Damascus) (2/325/2)—as well as by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Awsaṭ (The Middle Collection) (1/24/2/398, according to my numbering), and likewise in al-Kabīr (The Major Collection) (8/139–140), and by al-Ḥākim (2/262), who said: “Authentic according to the criteria of Muslim.” Al-Dhahabī agreed with him.

Ibn ʿUrwah al-Ḥanbalī likewise said so in al-Kawākib al-Darārī (The Brilliant Stars) (6/212/1), though he attributed it only to Ibn Ḥibbān. Ibn Mandah then said: “This is an authentic chain, in accordance with the standards of Muslim and the other major hadith compilers, apart from al-Bukhārī. It has also been reported from the hadith of al-Qāsim Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and others, from Abū Umāmah and Abū Dharr, through chains containing points open to criticism.”

I say: The hadith of al-Qāsim is narrated by Muʿān ibn Rifāʿah: ʿAlī ibn Yazīd narrated to me from him, from Abū Umāmah, at length, and it contains: “He said: I said, ‘O Prophet of Allah, which prophet came first?’ He replied, ‘Adam, peace be upon him.’ He said:”