(2/324). [This is the same hadith cited earlier (p. 904); see Tamam al-Minna, pp. 224–25]. (1) Be aware that numerous formulae exist for invoking blessings on the Prophet ﷺ. Early scholars counted forty-eight distinct wordings: thirty-six are traced back to the Prophet himself, the remainder to the Companions and Successors. Siddiq Hasan Khan reproduced about thirty of them in Nuzul al-Abrar (pp. 167–71), all but one carrying a prophetic chain. In my view this collection is unnecessarily extensive, for some of the cited reports are weak—as will be shown, Allah willing—while the authentic narrations are fully sufficient. Moreover, several variants were extracted from a single Companion’s report; such diversity merely reflects differences among transmitters. The preferable method, followed in this book, is to retain the principal wording and append any additional phrases found in sound routes. Examples of this will be noted below, God willing. 1– The hadith comes from an unnamed Companion who reported that the Prophet ﷺ used to say: … The report is recorded by Imam Ahmad (5/374): narrated to us Abd al-Razzaq, from Muammar, from Ibn Tawus, from Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm, from that Companion. The chain is sound; all its transmitters are reliable and appear in the Six Books. Al-Tahawi also cited it in al-Mushkil (3/74) through Ahmad ibn Salih, from Abd al-Razzaq, but he abbreviated it, omitting the words “just as You sent blessings upon the family of Ibrahim …” and likewise the clause “and bless Muhammad …,” etc. Both sources, however, include the additional phrase: