This is one of Ibn Lahiʿah’s muddled narrations.
It was recorded by Aḥmad (3/345) and al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ (10/28/9067). It is one of the reports that escaped al-Haythamī, so he did not include it in Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid!
The second route: from Sulaymān, from Jābir, with the wording:
“Faith is among the people of the Hijaz, while hardness of heart and harshness are among the faddādīn—the people of the East.”
It was recorded by Aḥmad (3/332), and its chain of transmission is authentic. Its narrators are narrators of the two Ṣaḥīḥs, except for this Sulaymān, who is Sulaymān ibn Qays al-Yashkurī; and he is trustworthy.
The third: from Abū Sufyān, from Jābir, with similar wording, except that he said:
“Hardness of heart is toward the East, among Rabīʿah and Muḍar.”
It was recorded by Ibn Abī Shaybah in al-Muṣannaf (12/183/12480).
Its chain of transmission is authentic according to Muslim’s conditions. *
- “The people of Yemen will come upon you like clouds; they are the best of those on earth.” A man from the Anṣār said, “What about us, O Messenger of Allah?!” He remained silent. He said, “What about us, O Messenger of Allah?!” He remained silent. He said, “What about us, O Messenger of Allah?!” On the third occasion, he said softly, “Except for you.”
It was recorded by Aḥmad in al-Musnad (4/84) and in al-Faḍāʾil (2/863–864/1613). He said: Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us; Ibn Abī Dhiʾb informed me, from al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from Muḥammad ibn Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, from his father, who said:
While we were with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, on the road to Mecca, he said: …—then he mentioned it.