I have not seen it narrated in this wording; it therefore appears that he cited it by meaning. And Allah knows best.

Third Note: A number of earlier and later scholars have attributed the hadith, through the second chain, to Ahmad in his Musnad. This is mistaken. The correct view is that it is among the additions made by his son Abd Allah to the Musnad, as mentioned earlier in the hadith documentation and as recorded in Jami' al-Masanid (10/649/8160).

A Lesson and a Warning: I was struck by the inconsistency in the positions of the two Aleppine shaykhs, al-Sabuni and al-Rifa'i, regarding the hadith cited by Ibn Kathir with the wording, “Your Lord wonders ...” The former did not include it in his abridgment, whereas the latter included it in his abridgment (1/173), though he stated in its introduction that he includes only authentic hadiths. The former made the same statement. Yet both have violated this condition in dozens of hadiths, as I have demonstrated in al-Da'ifah. Whoever wishes to examine them may consult the index of subjects and benefits in its third and fourth volumes.

This is a further example that we cite here, confirming that Shaykh Nasib al-Rifa'i, when he declares a hadith authentic or weak, is merely “one who blunders in the dark,” as is reported from Ali. Otherwise, how could he authenticate a hadith that has no source in any of the books of Sunnah with the wording cited?!

On this occasion, I would add that our colleague Shaykh Muqbil ibn Hadi said in his source documentation of this hadith of Ibn Kathir (1/445—Kuwait): “Ahmad narrated it (!) in vol. 4, p. 13, with the same meaning. It is a weak hadith because it comes through Abd al-Rahman ibn Ayyash al-Sam'i, from Dalham ibn al-Aswad, and both are unknown.” I say: His words, “with the same meaning,” are incorrect, for wonder is not laughter. They are two attributes of Allah, exalted is He, according to Ahl al-Sunnah—and he is among them, praise be to Allah—in contrast to the Ash'aris, who do not affirm either of them, but instead interpret them as meaning pleasure. Perhaps he did not notice the necessary implication of this statement. Hence the saying: “The necessary implication of a position is not the position itself.”