It was recorded by Muslim, Ibn Majah, al-Tahawi, al-Bayhaqi, and Ahmad (2/86). Al-Mundhiri (1/194) attributed it to Ibn Majah with a sound chain, and Ibn Khuzaymah cited it in his Sahih, though only briefly. (1) Meaning: directly in front of him and close to him. The precise limit is disputed: some say it is when someone passes between him and the space required for his prostration; others set it at three cubits; others at the distance of a stone’s throw. Al-Sarraj, through al-Dahhak ibn Uthman from Abu al-Nadr, records the wording: “between the hands of the worshipper and the place of prayer,” i.e. the sutrah; see Tanwir al-Hawalik and Fath (2/463, 465). (2) The report is transmitted in an indeterminate form. The narrator Abu al-Nadr said: “I do not know whether he said forty days, a month, or a year.” This indicates that the original hadith specified the number, but the uncertainty comes from the transmitter. In Musnad al-Bazzar, via Sufyan ibn Uyaynah from Abu al-Nadr, the wording is “forty autumns.” Al-Mundhiri—followed by al-Haythami (2/61)—commented: “Its narrators are those of the Sahih.” I, however, judge it defective, for Ibn Majah, as well as Ahmad, Ibn Abi Shaybah, Saʿid ibn Mansur, and other hadith authorities, also related it from Ibn Uyaynah through Abu al-Nadr with the same uncertainty, and they added: “or an hour.” Al-Hafiz said: