Rūḥ ibn al-Qāsim, however, is trustworthy and is among the narrators of the two Ṣaḥīḥs. But I do not know whether his version contains the point at issue—namely, the statement at its end: “Whoever seeks Allah’s forgiveness, He will forgive him.” For I had not yet been able to obtain a copy of al-Nasāʾī’s aforementioned book, al-Yawm wa al-Laylah, though it has recently been printed. If it contains this wording, then it is an acceptable corroboration, despite its brevity; otherwise, it is not suitable as corroborating evidence, owing to Ibn al-Zibriqān’s extreme weakness in this chain. And Allah knows best.

Note: The word al-ʿAẓīm (“the Magnificent”), indicated by dots in the hadith heading, does not occur in al-Suyūṭī’s al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr, though he attributed the hadith to al-Ḥākim. It should therefore be verified, particularly since I have not seen it in any of the other narrations, despite their weakness.

I later came across al-Nasāʾī’s book ʿAmal al-Yawm wa al-Laylah, edited by Dr. Fārūq Ḥamādah, and found Matar’s hadith there (212/160) with the wording: “Remember Allah, O servants of Allah. For when a servant says, ‘Subḥān Allāh wa bi-ḥamdih’ (Glory and praise be to Allah), Allah records ten for him on its account, then from ten to one hundred, and from one hundred to one thousand. Whoever does more, Allah will grant him still more.” As you can see, it does not contain the sentence concerning seeking forgiveness.

I say: Matar—al-Warrāq—is disputed over, and al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “Truthful, but prone to frequent errors.” This is the case. As for the word al-ʿAẓīm (“the Magnificent”), it now appears to me that it was interpolated by one of the copyists, for the following reasons: First, it is not mentioned in al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr, as stated above. Second, it is likewise not mentioned in al-Riyāḍ, though it too attributes the hadith to al-Ḥākim, as mentioned above.