ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, that ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās said: A man from among the Prophet’s Companions, one of the Anṣār, informed me that, while they were sitting with the Messenger of Allah one night, a shooting star was hurled and lit up. The Messenger of Allah said to them: “What did you used to say in the Age of Ignorance when something like this was hurled?”

They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best. We used to say: Tonight a great man has been born, and a great man has died.” The Messenger of Allah then said: “It is ...” and went on to relate it.

Al-Tirmidhī narrated it (3224), as did al-Nasāʾī in al-Sunan al-Kubrá (11272)—from whom al-Ṭaḥāwī also narrated it in Mushkil al-Āthār (2334)—as did Aḥmad (1/218), al-Bayhaqī in al-Dalāʾil (2/236–237) and al-Asmāʾ wa’l-Ṣifāt (203–204), and Abū Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilyah (3/143), through various chains from al-Zuhrī with this chain of transmission.

Some of these sources state, “from men ...”; Muslim also narrated it in this manner. Its meaning is the same as that of the first narration, as indicated by the wording, “They ...”

Al-Tirmidhī (3224), Aḥmad (1/218), al-Bayhaqī in al-Dalāʾil (2/238), and ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd (682) also narrated it through various chains from al-Zuhrī, from ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah ...—and then related it.

I say: All the chains of transmission are authentic. Thus, whether Ibn ʿAbbās narrated it directly from the Prophet, or whether Ibn ʿAbbās narrated it from another Companion who narrated it from him, the matter is unproblematic, praise be to Allah; for all the Companions are upright and trustworthy.

The hadith also has a corroborating report from ʿĀʾishah, similar to it but abbreviated. Al-Bukhārī narrated it (5762 and 7561), as did Muslim (7/36) and Aḥmad (6/87). *