“This is a singular chain of transmission, and a singular text of the hadith!”

That is what he said. As for the chain of transmission, it appears that he was unfamiliar with some of its narrators, such as al-Ziyadi and al-Dabbagh, for neither is among the narrators of al-Tahdhib.

As for the text, what is singular about it when the two corroborating reports to which I referred above are present?!

Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir then said:

“The jurist Abu Muhammad Abdullah ibn Hamid also transmitted it in his book Dala’il al-Nubuwwah, from Ahmad ibn Hamdan al-Hayri—although the original has: al-Sahri—from Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Bujayr al-Bujayri—although the original has: al-Buhtari!—from Bishr ibn Adam, from Muhammad ibn Awn, Abu Awn al-Ziyadi, with the same report. He also transmitted it through Makki ibn Ibrahim, from Fa’id Abu al-Waraqa’, from Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with wording similar to what has preceded from Ibn Abbas.”

I say: This Abu al-Waraqa’ is abandoned, so he cannot be cited as corroborating evidence. His hadith is found in Abu Nu‘aym’s Dala’il al-Nubuwwah (p. 329).

The relevant point in al-Hafiz’s statement is the narration of Bishr ibn Adam—the Basran—of whom al-Hafiz al-‘Asqalani said:

“Truthful, though possessing some weakness.”

Thus, he is a strong corroborating report for the hadith of al-Tabarani’s shaykh, al-Abbas ibn al-Fadl al-Asfati, and evidence that he had preserved it. There is therefore no reason to regard either its chain or its text as singular, especially since it is corroborated by the reports mentioned earlier. And Allah knows best.

I then found a third, strong corroborating report for it, transmitted by Amr ibn Abi Amr, from a trustworthy man of Banu Salamah, from Jabir ibn Abdullah: