I say: This mursal report is also authentic, and the connected report is not rendered defective by it, for it is narrated by a group of trustworthy transmitters, who also contain an additional detail; such an addition is unanimously accepted.

The hadith has corroborating reports, including the following from Anas, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, brought his fingertips together and pressed them into the ground. He then said, “This is the son of Adam.” Gesturing with his hand behind that, he said, “This is his appointed term.” Then he gestured before him and said, “And there lies his hope”—three times.

Ahmad recorded it (3/123 and 135)—the wording is his—as did al-Tirmidhi, no. 2334; Ibn Majah, no. 4232; and Ibn Hibban, no. 2554, through the route of Hammad ibn Salamah, from Ubayd Allah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Anas, from Anas ibn Malik. Al-Tirmidhi said:

“A good, authentic hadith.”

I say: Despite Hammad ibn Salamah’s eminent standing, some scholars criticized his narrations from anyone other than Thabit. Thus, the chain of transmission is good, while the hadith itself is authentic.

Al-Mundhiri also attributed it to al-Nasa'i in al-Targhib (4/132/22), and al-Hafiz al-Mundhiri followed him in Tuhfat al-Ashraf, qualifying it with the statement (1/286):

“In al-Raqa'iq, in al-Kubra.”

The Book of al-Raqa'iq is not found in his work al-Sunan al-Sughra, known as al-Mujtaba. Therefore, the learned editor Abd al-Samad Sharaf al-Din qualified it with “in al-Kubra.” Yet this book, al-Raqa'iq, is not found in the printed edition of al-Sunan al-Kubra. I have encountered more than one