authentic, because Ibn Abi al-Zinad—who was truthful, though his memory deteriorated when he came to Baghdad—has a strong corroborating parallel. Abu Nu‘aym said in Tasmiyat Ma Intaha Ilayna min al-Ruwat ‘an Sa‘id ibn Mansur ‘Aliyan (209/1): “Isma‘il ibn ‘Abd Allah al-‘Abdi also narrated from him. ‘Abd Allah ibn Ja‘far narrated to us; Isma‘il ibn ‘Abd Allah narrated to us; Sa‘id ibn Mansur informed us; Ibn Abi Dhi’b informed us, from Suhayl, with it.”

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. Its narrators are trustworthy and are among Muslim’s narrators, apart from this al-‘Abdi, who is trustworthy and truthful, as Ibn Abi Hatim stated (1/1/182). ‘Abd Allah ibn Ja‘far is ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja‘far ibn Hibban, known as Abu al-Shaykh. He was a trustworthy hadith master, and has an entry in Tadhkirat al-Huffaz (3/147–149).

The hadith has two supporting narrations:

The first is from ‘A’ishah.

It was narrated by al-Tahawi and Abu Bakr al-Shafi‘i in al-Fawa’id (7/80/2)—from whom ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Kattani narrated it in his Hadith (236/1)—as well as by al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Huyawayh in his Hadith (3/4/2), through Ibn Ishaq, from ‘Umarah ibn Ghaziyyah, from al-Qasim, from ‘A’ishah, attributing it to the Prophet. Al-Hafiz said: “Its chain is also good.”

This is leniency on his part, for Ibn Ishaq practised tadlis and narrated it with an ambiguous “from” in both routes from him. Unless he meant that it is good on account of supporting evidence; then that is correct.

The other supporting narration is from Ibn ‘Abbas.

Al-Khatib narrated it in al-Mudih (2/67), through Sulayman ibn Arqam, from ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah, from him. Sulayman ibn Arqam is weak.

Note:

In al-Jami‘ al-Kabir (2/286/2), al-Suyuti attributed the hadith, with this wording, to Abu Dawud and al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu‘ab, from Abu Hurayrah. He then cited it with an addition:

“It was said: ‘O