“And it is not from al-Zuhri’s hadith.”

I say: I found a supporting mursal report for it, which Ibn Abi Shaybah transmitted in al-Musannaf from Abd Allah ibn Idris, from Abu al-Ashhab, from a man. He mentioned the text in wording similar to Ahmad’s narration. Abu al-Ashhab was Jaʿfar ibn Hayyan al-ʿAtaridi; he was among the narrators of the Sahih collections and heard from senior Successors. This indicates that the hadith has a basis, and its lowest rank is that it be classified as good.”

(Note)

In al-Adhkar, al-Nawawi confined his attribution of it to Ibn Majah and Ibn al-Sunni. This is an evident shortcoming, at which al-Hafiz expressed surprise.

353 — “Beware of luxurious living, for the servants of Allah are not given to luxury.”

Ahmad (5/243, 244) and Abu Nuʿaym in al-Hilyah (5/155) transmitted it through several routes from Baqiyyah ibn al-Walid, from al-Sari ibn Yunʿim, from Murayh ibn Masruq, from Muʿadh ibn Jabal:

“When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent him to Yemen, he said,” and he then mentioned it.

I say: This is a chain of transmission whose narrators are reliable, as al-Mundhiri (3/125) and al-Haythami (10/250) stated. Yet both passed over Baqiyyah’s use of an ambiguous transmission formula, despite his being well known for concealment in transmission. However, in Abu Nuʿaym’s version he explicitly stated that he heard the report directly; thus the suspicion of his concealment is removed, and the hadith is thereby established. Praise be to Allah.