As for his statement, “It is a weak hadith,” that is conceded in view of the aforementioned chain through al-Sam‘i. However, he overlooked the other chain with which we began the documentation, and by combining the two chains we deemed the hadith sound. Perhaps, had he come across it, he would have retracted his categorical judgment that the hadith is weak. And Allah knows best.

As for Shaykh al-Sabuni, it is most likely that he did not include the hadith because its wording did not appeal to him, for he is among the Ash‘aris or Maturidis who interpret such attributes figuratively—not because he knew that it had no basis in its original wording.

2811 — “Shall I not tell you of a night better than Laylat al-Qadr? A guard standing watch in a land of danger, perhaps never to return to his family.”

Al-Ruyani recorded it in his Musnad (folio 247/2): Muhammad ibn Bashshar informed us; Yahya ibn Sa‘id al-Qattan informed us; Thawr ibn Yazid informed us, from Abd al-Rahman ibn A’idh, from Mujahid, from Ibn Umar, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him—though he would sometimes not trace it back to him—who said: and he mentioned it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are narrators of al-Bukhari, apart from Abd al-Rahman ibn A’idh, who is trustworthy, as stated in al-Taqrib. The hadith was also recorded by al-Hakim (2/80–81), and from him by al-Bayhaqi (9/149), through the route of Musaddad: Yahya ibn Sa‘id narrated to us with it, except that he did not say, “though he would sometimes not trace it back to him.” Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to al-Bukhari’s conditions!” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him. This was an error on both their parts, in light of the exception mentioned above; al-Mundhiri likewise approved it (2/154). Then al-Hakim said: