I brought a consignment of goods (1) to Medina during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah. When I had finished selling it, I said, “I shall certainly meet this man and hear from him.” He said: I then encountered him with Abu Bakr and Umar, as they were walking, so I followed at their heels until they came upon a Jewish man who had spread out the Torah and was reading it, seeking consolation in it over a son of his who was at the point of death—a youth among the finest and most handsome. The Messenger of Allah said:

“I adjure you by Him who sent down the Torah: Do you find my description and my advent in your book?”

He shook his head, meaning, “No.” But his son said, “Yes, by Him who sent down the Torah! We certainly find your description and your advent in our book. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah.” He then said what has just been cited, after which he took charge of shrouding him, perfuming his body (2), and offering the funeral prayer over him.

I say: The narrators in this chain of transmission are trustworthy, apart from Abu Sakhr al-ʿUqayli. Ibn Hibban included him among the Companions in al-Thiqat (3/457), as had al-Bukhari and Muslim before him; they decisively affirmed his status as a Companion, as stated in al-Isabah and al-Taʿjil.

If this is so, then the chain is authentic, since the unknown identity of a Companion does no harm. For this reason, Ibn Kathir said in his exegesis of Surat al-Aʿraf (2/251):

“This is a good, strong hadith, and it has a supporting report in the Sahih from Anas.”

I say: The supporting report to which he alluded is extremely abridged, containing the Prophet’s instruction to the son