pray for them, so I prayed for them twice.” Then he said:

“ʿUṣayyah disobeyed Allah and His Messenger—unlike Qays, Juʿdah, and ʿUṣayyah (1).”

Then he said:

“The tribes of Aslam, Ghifār, Muzaynah, and their allied clans from Juhaynah are better, in Allah’s sight on the Day of Resurrection, than Banu Asad, Tamim, Ghaṭafān, and Hawāzin.”

Then he said:

“The worst two tribal groups among the Arabs are Najrān and Banu Taghlib, while the most numerous tribes in Paradise are Madhḥij and Maʾkūl.”

Imam Ahmad narrated it (4/387)—and the wording is his—as did al-Hakim (4/81), through ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿAʾidh al-Azdi, from ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah al-Sulami, who said:

One day, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was reviewing horses, and ʿUyaynah ibn Ḥiṣn ibn Badr al-Fazari was with him. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to him, “I know more about horses than you do.”

ʿUyaynah replied, “And I know more about men than you do.”

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, asked him, “How is that?”

He said, “The finest men are those who carry their swords upon their shoulders, rest their spears across their horses’ necks, and wear striped cloaks—the people of Najd.”

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“You are mistaken. Rather, the finest men are the men of Yemen...” He then related the rest of the hadith.

Al-Hakim said, “Its text is singular, and its chain of transmission is authentic.” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him, and it is as they both said.