a group narrated—told us: Muʿawiyah ibn Qurrah told us, from Kahmas al-Hilali, who said: I heard Umar ibn al-Khattab say: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say … and he mentioned it.

The addition is omitted from al-Bahr, as it is also omitted from Kashf al-Astar (3/289/2764). I have supplied it from the Musnad, where its wording is:

“Then the second, then the third.”

Al-Bazzar said:

“We know of no report with a continuous chain from Kahmas, on the authority of Umar, other than this; and Kahmas narrated one hadith from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.”

I say: This is a sound chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are narrators relied upon by Muslim, apart from the Basran Hammad ibn Yazid. Ibn Hibban declared him trustworthy, and a group narrated from him, as mentioned earlier in al-Bazzar’s chain of transmission. This statement apparently comes from al-Bazzar. The names of some of those who narrated from him have already been given in the documentation of the one hadith to which al-Bazzar referred, no. 2623. We also cited there al-Bazzar’s statement:

“There is no harm in him.”

Al-Haythami said in Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid (10/19):

“Al-Bazzar narrated it—and the wording is his. Al-Tabarani also has it in al-Awsat: ‘The best generation is the generation to which I belong, then the second, then the third; then the fourth—Allah will give them no consideration whatsoever.’”

I say: Ibn Majah has part of it. Al-Bazzar’s narrators are trustworthy, but among al-Tabarani’s narrators is Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, known as Sahib al-Bab (!), whom I have not identified; the rest of his narrators are trustworthy.

I say: It is in al-Awsat (4/255/3449) through al-Fayd ibn Wathiq al-Thaqafi.