al-Subay‘i—and Zakariyya, who was Ibn Abi Za’idah—both heard from him after his memory had deteriorated. The other two, al-Jarrah ibn Mulayh and Hudaij ibn Mu‘awiyah, fall under the same ruling as the first two, since it is not known whether they heard from him before or after that deterioration; moreover, both of them are somewhat weak. Perhaps al-Bukhari and Muslim had established through other chains that he related it before his deterioration, or perhaps they did not consider his deterioration to have been so severe as to weaken his hadith. And Allah knows best.

2933 — “And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger will be among those whom Allah has blessed: the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs, and the righteous. How excellent are they as companions!”

Al-Tabarani transmitted it in al-Mu‘jam al-Awsat (1/29/1–2) and al-Mu‘jam al-Saghir (p. 12, Indian edition): Ahmad ibn ‘Amr al-Khallal al-Makki, Abu ‘Abd Allah, narrated to us: ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Imran al-‘Abidi narrated to us: Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad narrated to us from Mansur, from Ibrahim, from al-Aswad, from ‘A’ishah, who said:

A man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, “Messenger of Allah, you are dearer to me than my own self, dearer to me than my family, and dearer to me than my child. When I am at home and remember you, I cannot bear it until I come to you and look at you. But when I remember my death and yours, I know that when you enter Paradise, you will be raised up with the prophets; and if I enter Paradise, I fear that I will not see you.”

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, gave him no reply until Gabriel descended with this verse. He then recited it.

He said: “No one narrated it from Mansur, from Ibrahim, from al-Aswad, from ‘A’ishah, except Fudayl; ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Imran was alone in narrating it.”