Moreover, neither Abu Saʿd al-Azdi nor Abu al-Kanud was declared trustworthy by anyone besides Ibn Hibban. Ibn Saʿd also deemed the latter trustworthy in his Tabaqat, while al-Hafiz described each of them as “acceptable.”

I have found no corroborating report for them concerning the mention of al-Aqraʿ and ʿUyaynah; thus, it is not preserved. Yet al-Busiri, in al-Zawa'id, proceeded on the apparent judgments made regarding the narrators in the chain and said:

“Its chain is authentic, and its narrators are trustworthy. Muslim, al-Nasa’i, and the compiler also narrated part of it from the hadith of Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas!”

I say: Ibn Kathir’s statement is, in my view, more weighty and more compelling, for the course of the account indicates that it took place in Mecca, when the Muslims were weak. This is further supported by the hadith of Saʿd to which al-Busiri alluded. Saʿd said:

“We were six men with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when the polytheists said to the Prophet, ‘Dismiss these people, lest they presume against us.’ They were myself, Ibn Masʿud, a man from Hudhayl, Bilal, and two other men whose names I shall not mention. Then whatever Allah willed came to the mind of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and he considered it. So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, revealed: ‘And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, seeking His Face.’”

It was recorded by Muslim (7/127)—the wording cited is his—al-Nasa’i in al-Kubra (6/340/11163), Ibn Majah (4128), Ibn Jarir (7/128), al-Hakim (3/319), al-Bazzar in al-Bahr al-Zakhkhar (4/61–62), Abu Yaʿla in his Musnad (2/141/826), ʿAbd ibn Humayd in al-Muntakhab (1/173/131), and Ibn Hibban (14/535/6573, al-Mu’assasah edition), through various routes from al-Miqdam ibn Shurayh, from his father, from Saʿd.

Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to the conditions of the two Shaykhs, though they did not record it!” Al-Dhahabi concurred with him.