the first instance he attributed it to al-Awsaṭ. His teacher al-ʿIrāqī likewise attributed it to al-Ṭabarānī without qualification. Regrettably, the section devoted to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr has not yet been printed, so that we may determine with certainty whether his attribution to it was mistaken. Allah knows best (1).

The other point is his grading its chain of transmission as good, despite having declared its narrator, Rushdayn, weak in the first instance. It is, however, good by virtue of some supporting reports which I shall mention. Al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿAmr narrated: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, met one of his Companions and asked, “How are you?” He replied, “I am well.” He asked, “How are you?” He replied, “I am well, and I praise Allah Most High.” He said: “This is what I wanted from you.”

Al-Ṭabarānī recorded it in al-Duʿāʾ (3/1668/1939) through a chain all of whose narrators are trustworthy; thus, it is authentic, were it not for the fact that this al-Fuḍayl belonged to the generation following the Successors. Ibn Ḥibbān listed him among the reliable narrators of that generation in his work on reliable narrators (7/314), saying: “He narrates disconnected reports.” He is among Muslim’s narrators.

It has also been authentically reported as attributed to ʿUmar, so it appears that he received it from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Mālik said in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (3/133), from Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, from Anas ibn Mālik, that he heard ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb: A man greeted him, and he returned the greeting; then ʿUmar asked,