361 — “A man will soon wish that he had fallen from the Pleiades rather than having assumed any responsibility over the affairs of the people.”

Al-Hakim (4/91) reported it through the chain of Asim ibn Bahdalah, from Yazid ibn Sharik: al-Dahhak ibn Qays sent him with a garment to Marwan ibn al-Hakam. Marwan said to the gatekeeper, “See who is at the door.” He replied, “Abu Hurayrah.” So he gave him permission to enter and said, “O Abu Hurayrah, relate to us a hadith that you heard from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.” He said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say,” and then mentioned it.

He said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic,” and al-Dhahabi concurred with him.

I say: Rather, it is only good, because of the well-known disagreement concerning the precision of this Asim. Indeed, when al-Dhahabi himself wrote his biography in al-Mizan and cited the scholars’ statements about him, he said: “I say: His hadiths are good.”

362 — “Only two bowls are lawful for the caliph: a bowl from which he and his family eat, and a bowl with which he feeds others.”

Ibn Abi al-Dunya reported it in al-Waraʿ (168/2): Ibrahim ibn al-Mundhir al-Hizami related to us: Abdullah ibn Wahb informed us, from Ibn Lahiʿah, from Abdullah ibn Hubayrah, from Abdullah ibn Zurayr al-Ghafiqi, who said: