3958—“At times, revelation comes to me with a sound like the ringing of a bell, and that is the most severe upon me. Then it ceases, and I have retained it. At other times, an angel comes to me in the form of a man, and I retain what he says.”

It was recorded by al-Bukhari (2, 3215), Malik in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (1/206–207), al-Tirmidhi (9/252–253)—who said, “A good, authentic hadith”—al-Nasaʾi (1/147–148), Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (1/123–124/38), al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan (7/152–153), al-Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunnah (13/321–322/3737), Ahmad (6/158, 163, and 256–257), and al-Tabarani in al-Muʿjam al-Kabir (3/293–294/3343 and 3344), all through routes from Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from Aishah:

Al-Harith ibn Hisham asked the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, “How does revelation come to you?” He replied: … and then mentioned it.

Al-Baghawi said: “Its authenticity is agreed upon.”

I say: In another of his two narrations, al-Tabarani added, after the final words: “He speaks to me directly, and that is easier for me.” The chain of transmission for this addition—“and that is easier for me”—contains, according to him, Asim ibn Hilal, concerning whom al-Hafiz said: “There is some weakness in him.”

However, in Fath al-Bari (1/20), he mentioned that this addition is found in Abu Awanah. Yet I have not seen the hadith in the first volume of Sahih Abu Awanah, so I do not know whether he transmitted it through this route of Asim or through someone else.