and al-Tirmidhi (3348), who graded it authentic; al-Nasa’i in al-Sunan al-Kubra (6/518/11685); al-Tabari (1/336); al-Bayhaqi in al-Dala’il (2/192); and Ahmad (1/368). All of them narrated it from ʿAbd al-Razzaq through the same chain. The annotator of al-Tirmidhi claimed that al-Tirmidhi alone reported it—as though al-Bukhari and the remaining compilers of the Six had not! Al-Hafiz said after the hadith:

“Al-Ismaʿili added at its end, through the route of Maʿmar from ʿAbd al-Karim al-Jazari: Ibn ʿAbbas said, ‘Had the Jews wished for death, they would have died; and had those who went out to invoke mutual imprecation with the Messenger of Allah done so, they would have returned to find neither family nor wealth.’”

The hadith under discussion has a corroborating report from Abu Hurayrah, who said:

Abu Jahl said, “Does Muhammad place his face in the dust among you?” He was told, “Yes.” He said, “By al-Lat and al-ʿUzza, if I see him doing that, I shall certainly trample on his neck, or force his face into the dirt!”

He then came to the Messenger of Allah while he was praying, claiming that he would trample on his neck. But suddenly they saw him recoiling on his heels and warding something off with his hands. He was asked, “What is the matter with you?” He replied, “Between him and me is a trench of fire, terrors, and wings!” The Messenger of Allah said:

“Had he drawn near to me, the angels would have snatched him away limb by limb.”

Then Allah, Exalted is He, revealed—though we do not know whether this was part of Abu Hurayrah’s report or something that had reached him:

“No indeed! Man surely transgresses all bounds when he considers himself self-sufficient. Surely to your Lord is the return. Have you seen the one who forbids a servant when he prays? Have you seen whether he is upon guidance, or enjoins piety? Have you seen whether he denies and turns away”—meaning Abu Jahl—“Does he not know that Allah sees?”—to the end of the surah.