It remains to consider the narrators above him, so I say:
- Dawud ibn Abi ʿAwf, Abu al-Jahhaf: al-Hafiz said:
“Truthful, a Shiʿi, and may sometimes err.”
- ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Abi Ziyad—also said to be Ibn Ziyad—from whom al-Aʿmash likewise narrated. Ibn Maʿin and al-ʿIjli declared him trustworthy, while al-Bukhari said:
“There is some question concerning him.”
I say: His hadith is therefore good, if Allah Most High wills. Al-Hafiz said:
“Acceptable”!
- As for ʿAbdullah ibn al-Harith ibn Nawfal, he is unanimously considered trustworthy and is among the narrators of the two Sahihs.
Thus, the chain of transmission is good. When the chain of ʿAli’s hadith is added to it, the hadith gains strength and rises to the rank of authenticity. Perhaps this is why al-Dhahabi made no comment on it in al-Siyar (3/258), after citing it through the narration of al-Tayalisi. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best. *
3320—“Be mindful of Allah, the Exalted, as much as you are able, and remember Allah by every stone and tree. If you commit an evil deed, follow it with repentance: privately for what was done privately, and publicly for what was done publicly.”
Ahmad transmitted it in al-Zuhd (p. 26), and al-Tabarani in al-Muʿjam al-Kabir (20/159/331), through several routes from Sharik ibn ʿAbdullah, from ʿAta ibn Yasar: