previously, I found that the author had attributed it under no. 5017 to al-Bayhaqi in Shuʿab al-Iman. At that time, I was unable to locate its chain of transmission, even elsewhere, so I left a blank for it and attributed it only to Abu Dawud. Now, however, I have found its chain of transmission in ʿAbd al-Razzaq, and have therefore traced its sources.

I then found corroboration for Thabit’s hadith from Anas in the hadith of Ibn ʿUmar, who said:

While I was sitting with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, a man came to him, greeted him, and then turned away. I said, “O Messenger of Allah, I truly love this man for Allah’s sake.” He asked:

“Have you informed him of that?”

I replied, “No.” He said:

“Then let your brother know that.”

He said: So I followed him and caught up with him. I took hold of his shoulder, greeted him, and said, “By Allah, I truly love you for Allah’s sake.” He replied, “By Allah, I truly love you for Allah’s sake.” I said, “Had the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, not commanded me to inform you, I would not have done so.”

It was recorded by Ibn Hibban (1/388/568) and al-Tabarani in al-Muʿjam al-Kabir (12/366/13361), through the route of al-Azraq ibn ʿAli Abu al-Jahm, who said: Hassan ibn Ibrahim narrated to us; Zuhayr ibn Muhammad narrated to us from ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar and Musa ibn ʿUqbah, from Nafiʿ, who said: I heard Ibn ʿUmar say ... and he mentioned it.

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy. There is some criticism concerning Hassan—who is al-Kirmani—and Zuhayr ibn Muhammad, but it does not affect this report. Al-Haythami said (10/282):

“Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Kabir and al-Awsat. The narrators of both are narrators of the Sahih, apart from al-Azraq ibn ʿAli and Hassan ibn Ibrahim, both of whom are trustworthy.”