Abu Yahya narrated to us: Abu Zayd al-Harawi narrated to us: Ali ibn al-Mubarak narrated to us, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Thawban, from him, with some elements brought forward and others deferred; and he added:

“And grant health to my body.”

The narrators in this chain, from al-Tabarani’s shaykh down to Saʿd, are all trustworthy. As for the shaykh, Ibn al-Munadi declared him trustworthy and described him as possessing retention and sound knowledge. He has a favourable biography in Tarikh Baghdad (2/381). He died in 293 AH.

All those above him in the chain are narrators cited by al-Bukhari. Abu Zayd al-Harawi was named Saʿid ibn al-Rabiʿ al-Basri. Thus, the chain is authentic, were it not for Yahya ibn Abi Kathir’s unqualified “from” transmission, since he is known to have practised concealment in transmission. And Allah knows best.

The addition mentioned above also occurs in the previously cited hadith of Aishah, in al-Tirmidhi’s version, in which Habib ibn Abi Thabit narrates with an unqualified “from” transmission.

6—As for the hadith of Anas, Yusuf ibn Atiyyah narrated it: Yazid al-Raqqashi narrated to us, from Anas ibn Malik, who said:

Whenever one of his Companions was afflicted with ophthalmia, he would say: … and he mentioned the supplication.

Ibn al-Sunni recorded it in Amal al-Yawm wa al-Laylah (181/559), as did al-Hakim (4/414), who made no comment on it. Al-Dhahabi said:

“It contains two weak narrators.”

I say: Rather, the first of them—Yusuf ibn Atiyyah—is abandoned. There are two men by this name: this one is the Basran, while the other is the Kufan, who is likewise abandoned and perhaps worse than him, for he was declared a liar.