rather, it is authentic, for I found a trustworthy, authoritative corroborating narrator for him—none other than Imam al-Awzaʿī. I found three chains from him:

The first: through Sufyān, from al-Awzaʿī, from Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, relating it. However, he said: “I saw what would be opened up for my community…” and so on. Al-Bayhaqī recorded it in Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah (7/61). I say: Its chain of transmission is authentic; all its narrators are trustworthy.

The second: ʿAmr ibn Hāshim said: I heard al-Awzaʿī relate it in similar terms, adding at its end: “wives and servants.” Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī recorded it in al-Tafsīr (30/149), as did al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (10/337/10650), and al-Sakan ibn Jamīʿ in his hadith collection. Ibn Abī Ḥātim likewise recorded it through Ibn Jarīr’s route, as cited in Ibn Kathīr’s Tafsīr (4/523). Ibn Kathīr said: “This is an authentic chain of transmission.” Al-Haythamī said: “Its chain of transmission is good.”

I say: This is closer to the mark, because ʿAmr ibn Hāshim—the Beirut native—has been criticized. Therefore, al-Ḥāfiẓ said in al-Taqrīb: “Truthful, but prone to error.” Nevertheless, it is authentic when supported by the reports preceding and following it.