I say: This chain of transmission is weak. Al-Hakim and al-Dhahabi made no comment on it, and its flaw lies in this Shahr, for he is weak due to his poor memory. Nevertheless, al-Hafiz said in al-Fath (11/380): “Ahmad transmitted it, and its chain is unobjectionable!”

I then found another route for the hadith, as well as a corroborating report; the hadith is bound to be strengthened by the two.

As for the other route, al-Hakim (4/510) said: “Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Salamah al-ʿAnazi (!) informed me: ʿUthman ibn Saʿid al-Darimi narrated to us: ʿAbd Allah ibn Salih narrated to us: Musa ibn ʿAli ibn Rabah narrated to us, saying: I heard my father say:

“‘I set out to perform Hajj, and Sulayman ibn ʿAnaz—the judge of Egypt—said to me: “Convey my greetings to Abu Hurayrah, and let him know that I sought forgiveness this morning for him and his mother.” So I met him and conveyed this to him. He said: “And I too have sought forgiveness for him.” Then he said: “How did you leave Umm Hanu”—meaning Egypt—“behind?” I described to him its prosperity and comfortable life. He said: “Indeed, it will be the first land to fall into ruin, followed by Armenia.” I said: “Did you hear this from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him?” He replied: “No; rather, ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs, may Allah be pleased with him, told me that he heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: ‘There will be migration after migration, and the best people on earth …’”—the hadith.

Al-Hakim said: “An authentic hadith according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim.” Al-Dhahabi concurred with him.

I say: ʿAbd Allah ibn Salih—namely Abu Salih, the scribe of al-Layth—was not among Muslim’s transmitters. Moreover, he has been criticized on account of his memory. Al-Hafiz took a middle position in assessing him in the Introduction to al-Fath, saying, after citing the statements of the leading authorities of narrator criticism concerning him: