I say: Abū ʿAwānah is trustworthy and among the narrators of both al-Bukhārī and Muslim, as are those above him. Thus, it is an authentic chain of transmission, were it not for al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī’s use of an unqualified “from” in reporting it.

However, it has been authentically reported as attributed to the Prophet through a route other than his, so there is no basis for declaring it defective on the grounds that it was reported as attributed to a Companion; for attribution to the Prophet is an additional detail that must be accepted—especially since the one who reported it as attributed to a Companion was Saʿīd ibn Iyās al-Jurayrī, whose memory became impaired. He said: Ṭurayf Abū Tamīmah narrated to me:

“I witnessed Ṣafwān, Jundab, and his companions while he was advising them. They asked, ‘Did you hear it from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him?’ He replied, ‘I heard him say:

“Whoever seeks to be heard of, Allah will expose him on the Day of Resurrection.”

He also said:

“Whoever causes hardship, Allah will cause hardship for him on the Day of Resurrection.”

They said, ‘Advise us.’ He said:

“The first thing to decay ...”

He then cited the hadith in abbreviated form, shortening the passage about the chicken and the gates of Paradise, with some portions placed before others.

This is how al-Bukhārī reported it (7152), as did al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān (5/54/5753). Al-Ḥāfiẓ said in his entry on al-Jurayrī in al-Taqrīb:

“Trustworthy, but his memory became impaired three years before his death.”

I have another answer, assuming that al-Jurayrī had retained it correctly—which is al-Ḥāfiẓ’s view in al-Fatḥ (13/129):

“Even if it had not been explicitly reported as attributed to the Prophet, it would have the ruling of a report attributed to the Prophet, since this is not something that can be said on the basis of mere opinion.”

I say: How, then, when it has been authentically reported as attributed to the Prophet?! Hishām ibn ʿAmmār said: ʿAlī ibn Sulaymān narrated to us: