—that is, ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd—from Sulaymān ibn Bilāl, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Maryam, from Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said ... and he cited it.

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. A number of reliable transmitters besides Sulaymān ibn Bilāl narrated from Ibn Abī Maryam; Ibn Abī Ḥātim mentioned them (7/306/1660). He also related from Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān that he said:

“There was no harm in him.”

And from his father:

“A Medinan shaykh, acceptable in hadith.”

Ibn Ḥibbān included him among the reliable transmitters in al-Thiqāt (7/419).

The transmitters below him are reliable and were relied upon by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim, though Ibn Abī Uways—whose name was Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd Allāh—had some weakness in his retention.

Al-Bukhārī also transmitted the hadith in the biographical notice on Ibn Abī Maryam in al-Tārīkh, saying (1/139/419): “Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Uways related it to me with its chain of transmission,” with the wording:

“The Magians let their moustaches grow and shave their beards closely. So differ from them: trim your moustaches and let your beards grow.” *

3124—(Do not impose excessive strictness upon yourselves, for those before you were destroyed only by imposing excessive strictness upon themselves; and you will find their remnants in hermitages and monasteries!)

Al-Bukhārī transmitted it in al-Tārīkh (2/2/97), saying: “ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ told us: Abū Shurayḥ related to me: Sahl ibn Abī Umāmah ibn Sahl ibn Ḥunayf heard from his father, from his grandfather, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said ...” and he cited it.