“May He for whose sake you loved me love you.”

He said: He then returned to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and told him what he had said. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ... and he mentioned it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission, provided that al-Ashʿath—who is al-Huddani—heard it from Anas. Ibn Hibban said in al-Thiqat: “I do not think that he heard from Anas.”

Perhaps the reason for this is that Hafs ibn Ghiyath narrated it from him, from al-Hasan, from Anas, in an abridged form, with the wording:

“A person will be with those he loves, and he will have what he has earned.”

Al-Tirmidhi narrated it (2386) and said:

“A good, singular hadith through this route.”

I say: However, its chain contains Abu Hisham al-Rifaʿi—whose name was Muhammad ibn Yazid—concerning whom al-Hafiz said:

“He is not strong.”

I say: Thus, it cannot be used as evidence. Moreover, he differed regarding both its chain of transmission and its text. As for the chain, he inserted al-Hasan al-Basri between al-Ashʿath and Anas. As for the text, he said: “And he will have what he has earned!” The correct wording is: “And you will have what you intended,” as in the hadith under discussion.

Nevertheless, the hadith has a basis from al-Hasan. Mubarak ibn Fudalah said: Al-Hasan narrated to us: Anas ibn Malik informed me, saying:

I was with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in his house when a man came and said, “O Messenger of Allah, when will the Hour be?” He said: “It is surely coming; so what have you prepared for it?” He said, “By Allah, O Messenger of Allah!”