Aḥmad (3/265), al-Bukhārī in al-Tārīkh (3/2/27), and al-Ṭaḥāwī in Mushkil al-Āthār (1/62) transmitted it.

I say: This chain of transmission is good, or close to good. Its narrators are known to be trustworthy, apart from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muslim—the Anṣārī client of the family of Rifāʿah. Ibn Ḥibbān deemed him trustworthy (5/123), and Muʿāwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ also narrated from him. Al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “Acceptable.”

The other chain is narrated by Khalaf ibn Khalīfah: Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar narrated to us from Anas, with similar wording but without the aforementioned words; and after the phrase “Possessor of Majesty and Honor,” he added: “O Ever-Living, O Sustainer!”

Its narrators are trustworthy, but this Khalaf had become confused. I included this hadith of his in Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd (1342) on account of its various chains. Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Ḥākim authenticated it, and al-Dhahabī concurred with him.

Note: In the first chain, the addition “from ʿĀṣim” occurs between ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muslim and Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUbayd only in al-Musnad. It is also found in Ibn Kathīr’s Jāmiʿ al-Masānīd (21/22/9), as well as in Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī’s Aṭrāf al-Musnad (1/271). It appears to be an old error, inserted by one of the copyists, since it does not occur in the reports of al-Bukhārī and al-Ṭaḥāwī, and since they did not mention this ʿĀṣim among the teachers of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muslim, as noted above, nor among those who narrated from Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUbayd. And Allah knows best.

Another note: In al-Mundhirī’s presentation of the hadith under discussion in al-Targhīb (2/234/4)—which he cited in Aḥmad’s wording—there is both an addition and an omission. He said: “There is no god worthy of worship but You, O Most Affectionate One, O Ever-Bountiful Giver! O Originator...” Thus, he added the vocative “O” to the