the man, “How are you?” He replied, “I praise Allah in your presence.” ʿUmar said, “That is what I wanted from you.” Its chain of transmission is authentic; al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī said the same. Through Mālik’s route, it was also recorded by al-Bukhārī in al-Adab al-Mufrad (1132) and by al-Bayhaqī in al-Shuʿab (4/109/4450).

It has also been narrated as attributed to the Prophet through the route of Hammām ibn Yaḥyā and Ḥammād ibn Salamah, both from Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ṭalḥah: A man would come to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and greet him, whereupon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would ask, “How are you this morning?” He would reply, “I praise Allah in your presence, and I praise Allah before you.” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would then supplicate for him.

One day, he came, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, asked him, “How are you, O so-and-so?” He replied, “I am well, if I give thanks!” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, remained silent. The man said, “O Prophet of Allah, you used to ask me and supplicate for me. Today you asked me, yet you did not supplicate for me?” He said, “I used to ask you and you would give thanks to Allah; but when I asked you today, you made me doubt whether you had given thanks.”

Ibn Abī al-Dunyā recorded it in al-Shukr (28/38), and al-Bayhaqī, through him, in al-Shuʿab (4/109/4449), from Hammām; and Ibn al-Sunnī in ʿAmal al-Yawm wa-l-Laylah (65/184), from Ḥammād. It has also been narrated with a continuous chain to the Prophet. Aḥmad (3/241) said: Muʾammal informed us; Ḥammād—that is, Ibn Salamah—related to us: Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, from Anas ibn Mālik: