Ibn al-Sunni also transmitted it (no. 736). Its narrators are trustworthy, apart from his shaykh, ʿAli ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAmir, whom I have not been able to identify.

However, it is corroborated by the hadith of Muhammad ibn Ishaq, from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to teach us words to say when we were frightened in our sleep: ‘In the name of Allah, I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah …’”

The hadith is identical word for word, but it adds:

“He said: ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr would teach it to those of his children who had reached maturity, so that they would say it when going to sleep. For any who were too young to understand and memorize it, he would write it down for them and hang it around their necks.”

It was transmitted by Abu Dawud (2/239), al-Hakim (1/548), and Ahmad (2/181), whose wording is cited here, through sound chains from Ibn Ishaq with this chain. Al-Tirmidhi also transmitted it (4/266) by way of Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq with this chain, with the wording:

“If one of you is frightened in his sleep, let him say: ‘I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah …’”

The hadith continues in full, including the addition. Ibn al-Sunni likewise transmitted it (745) by way of Yunus ibn Bukayr, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq with this chain. Al-Tirmidhi then said: “This is a good, singular hadith.”

I say: However, Ibn Ishaq practised tadlis, and in every chain from him he narrates it using ambiguous wording. In my view, this addition is rejected, since he alone reports it. And Allah knows best.

In sum, the hadith is good in light of this corroborating report. Al-Bukhari cited it in suspended form in Afʿal al-ʿIbad (p. 88, Indian edition): Ahmad ibn Khalid said: “Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated to us with this chain,” with wording similar to that of Ibn ʿAyyash.