and he spoke words that I did not understand. I said, “O Mother of the Believers, it seemed to me that I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, angry.” She said, “Yes. Did you not hear him?” I said, “What did he say?” She said, “He said: ...” Then she related the hadith with similar wording.

Ahmad recorded it (6/294 and 418).

I say: This is a chain whose narrators are trustworthy and are among Muslim’s narrators, except that Muslim only narrated from Shurayk ibn ʿAbd Allah—the Nakhaʿi judge—in corroboration, due to a weakness in him. Thus, his hadith is strengthened by the earlier narration of Ibn ʿUyaynah, despite the variation in its transmission: was it from Aisha, or from a freedwoman of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him? In this narration of Shurayk, it is from Umm Salamah.

It has another chain: Khalaf ibn Khalifah narrated it from Layth, from ʿAlqamah ibn Marthad, from al-Maʿrūr ibn Suwayd, from Umm Salamah, who said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: ...” Then he mentioned it.

Ahmad recorded it (6/304), as did al-Tabarani in al-Muʿjam al-Kabir (23/325/747), through several routes from Khalaf, with this chain.

I say: Layth apparently is Ibn Abi Sulaym al-Himsi, who became confused in his later years; Khalaf ibn Khalifah was likewise, although both are among Muslim’s narrators. This is why al-Haythami said in al-Majmaʿ (7/268):

“Ahmad narrated it through two chains, and the narrators of one of them are the narrators of the Sahih.”

He means this chain; and by the other one—Allah knows best—he means the preceding narration of Shurayk.

Jāmiʿ ibn Abi Rashid has another chain: Hashim ibn al-Qasim narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Talhah narrated to us, from Zubayd, who said: Jāmiʿ ibn Abi Rashid told me—with tears streaming down his face—from Umm Mubashshir, from Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, transmitting the same report.