38 – “If a fly falls into the drink of any one of you, let him plunge it completely in and then remove it, for one of its wings carries disease while the other carries cure.”

This narration is reported from Abū Hurayrah, Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, and Anas ibn Mālik.

1 – As for the report of Abū Hurayrah, it comes through several routes:

The first: via ʿUbayd ibn Ḥunayn who said, “I heard Abū Hurayrah say…” and then quoted the ḥadith. Al-Bukhārī recorded it (2/329 and 4/71–72), al-Dārimī (2/99), Ibn Mājah (3505), and Aḥmad (2/398). The words enclosed in square brackets constitute an additional phrase found in one of al-Bukhārī’s versions.

The second: through Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd from him. Abū Dāwūd narrated it (3844) by way of Aḥmad, and it also appears in the Musnad (3/229, 246). Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafah cited it in his fascicle (fol. 91/1) through Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān with the added wording: “Indeed, the fly defends itself with the wing that carries the disease, so plunge it completely.” Its chain is sound. Ibrāhīm ibn al-Faḍl also transmitted it from Saʿīd with the same wording; Aḥmad recorded this (2/443). Ibrāhīm al-Makhzūmī al-Madanī is weak.

The third: through Thumāmah ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Anas from him with the same wording. Al-Dārimī and Aḥmad recorded it (2/263, 355, 388), and its chain is authentic according to Muslim’s criteria.