ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUthman ibn al-Arqam, from his grandfather al-Arqam, concerning it. It was also narrated by ʿAli ibn ʿAyyash, from ʿAṭṭaf, from Yaḥya ibn ʿImran, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUthman, concerning it. (1)

I say: This indicates two matters. First, the hadith was indeed among those omitted from the printed Musnad. Second, Yaḥya ibn ʿImran was omitted from the chains of transmission of the first two narrations, between ʿAṭṭaf and ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿImran. It is apparent that this omission came from ʿAṭṭaf himself—not from those who narrated from him, for they are reliable—and scholars had previously criticized his precision, as al-Hafiz indicated by saying: “Truthful, but makes mistakes.”

More than one narrator corroborated him in affirming it. Abu Nuʿaym narrated it (no. 1007) by way of Abu Muṣʿab, from Yaḥya ibn ʿImran ibn ʿUthman ibn al-Arqam, from his uncle ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUthman and from members of his household, from his grandfather ʿUthman ibn al-Arqam, from al-Arqam. Abu Nuʿaym said: “Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Muqaddami also narrated it from Yaḥya ibn ʿImran exactly the same.”

Among the variants in the reports from ʿAṭṭaf is what Ibn Abi ʿAsim narrated in al-Ahad wa-l-Mathani (2/19/688) by way of ʿAbd Allah ibn Salih: “ʿAṭṭaf ibn Khalid al-Makhzumi informed us; ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUthman ibn al-Arqam informed us, from his father ʿUthman ibn al-Arqam, who said: ‘I came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him ...’” He thus made it a narration of ʿUthman ibn al-Arqam. After citing it in the fourth section of al-Isabah—that is, those whose Companionship has not been established—al-Hafiz said: “This is how he cited it, but it is an error on the part of Abu Salih or someone else. What is correct is what Abu al-Yaman narrated.”