“A truthful narrator, but he changed in his old age; his son inserted into his books material that was not from his hadith, and he narrated it.” However, this particular hadith of his is acceptable as corroboration for the hadith under discussion, and most of his other narrations have corroborating evidence in Muslim (3/37–38 and 39) and elsewhere. It is cited in Ahkam al-Jana'iz (pp. 12 and 23).

The phrase, “O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward...” and so on, is established in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah concerning what the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would say when he prayed over a funeral, as recorded by Abu Dawud and Ibn Hibban (756, Mawarid). It is cited in al-Ahkam (p. 124).

2853 — “Allah has angels who roam throughout the earth and convey to me the greetings of my ummah.”

Al-Nasa'i (1/189), Ibn Hibban (1392), al-Hakim (2/421), al-Darimi (2/317), Ahmad (1/441 and 452), Ibn al-Mubarak in al-Zuhd (folio 204/2), al-Qadi Isma'il in Fadl al-Salah 'ala al-Nabi (no. 21)—from whom Ibn al-Najjar narrated it in Tarikh al-Madinah (p. 398)—Ibn Abi Shaybah in al-Musannaf (2/135/2), Ibn al-Dibaji in al-Fawa'id al-Muntaqah (2/80/2), al-Tabarani in al-Kabir (3/81/2), Abu Nu'aym in Akhbar Asbahan (5/205), and Ibn 'Asakir in Tarikh Dimashq (9/189/2) all narrated it through routes from Sufyan al-Thawri. Some of them paired al-A'mash with him; both narrated from 'Abd Allah ibn al-Sa'ib, from Zadhan, from 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Al-Hakim said, “Its chain of transmission is authentic.” Al-Dhahabi concurred with him, and Ibn al-Qayyim likewise authenticated it in Jala' al-Afham (p. 27). It is as they said.