on that person’s part, and that he confused it with the hadith under discussion—especially since the greatest of the hadith masters in memorization, al-‘Asqalani, who came later than that person, denies this. And Allah knows best.

The hadith also has another route of transmission: Zayd ibn Hubab narrated it, saying: Kharijah ibn ‘Abdullah told me: Yazid ibn Ruman told us, from ‘Urwah, from Aishah, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was seated when we heard a commotion and the voices of children. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, stood up, and there was an Abyssinian woman dancing with children around her. He said:

“O Aishah, come and watch.”

So I came and placed my chin on the Messenger of Allah’s shoulder, looking at her from behind his shoulder and past his head. He said to me:

“Have you not had enough?”

I kept saying, “No,” so that I might see my standing with him. Then Umar appeared, and the people scattered away from her. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Indeed, I see the devils among jinn and humankind fleeing from Umar.”

She said: So I returned.

I say: Al-Nasa’i transmitted it (5/309/8957), as did al-Tirmidhi (3691), who said: “It is a good, authentic, singular hadith through this route.”

I say: Its chain of transmission is good. Its narrators are the narrators of Muslim, apart from Kharijah ibn ‘Abdullah, who was truthful but made errors, as stated in al-Taqrib. Ibn Shahin also authenticated it in his book al-Sunnah... The Virtues of the Ten, no. (140—my copy).