“This man narrated it to us in this manner; it is known only through al-Aʿraj’s report from Abu Hurayrah.”

I said: The man referred to is his shaykh, Abu al-Sabah, whom I was unable to identify.

2897 — “I bear witness—and I bear witness—that no one testifies to them except that he is free of associationism.” That is, the two testimonies.

Al-Nasaʾi recorded it in The Deeds of the Day and Night (155/39), and al-Tabarani in al-Awsat (2/266/2/9059), through Asbagh ibn al-Faraj, who said: Ibn Wahb informed me, from ʿAmr ibn al-Harith, from Saʿid ibn Abi Hilal, that Yahya ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman related to him, from ʿAwn ibn ʿAbd Allah, from Yusuf ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Salam, from his father, who said:

While we were travelling with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, he heard a man in the valley saying, “I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then said the words cited above.

This is al-Nasaʾi’s wording. At its beginning, al-Tabarani added: “…when he heard the people asking, ‘Which deeds are best, O Messenger of Allah?’ The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, replied: ‘Faith in Allah and His Messenger, jihad in the path of Allah, and an accepted pilgrimage.’ Then he heard…” the hadith.

Al-Tabarani said: “It is narrated from ʿAbd Allah ibn Salam only through this chain of transmission; ʿAmr ibn al-Harith alone narrated it.”

I said: He is trustworthy, as are those above him, apart from Yahya ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman, who is al-Thaqafi. Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned him (4/2/166) by way of this narration, as did Ibn Hibban in al-Thiqat (5/524 and 527). This is why al-Dhahabi said in al-Mizan, indicating that he was unknown: