Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:8
[Who say], "Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His word: رَبَّنَا لا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ (8) ("Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us, and grant us from Yourself mercy; verily, You are the Bestower." (3:8))
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by this: that those firmly rooted in knowledge say: "We believe in what is ambiguous (mutashābih) in the verses of Allah's Book, and that this, just like what is clear (muḥkam) of His verses, comes from the revelation of our Lord and His inspiration." And they also say: "Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us." By this He means that they say this — out of a longing of theirs toward their Lord that He turn away from them that with which He has tried those whose hearts have deviated, who followed the ambiguous of the verses of the Qurʾān, seeking sedition (fitna) and seeking its interpretation which none knows except Allah —: "O our Lord, do not make us like those whose hearts have deviated from the truth, so that they turned others away from Your path." And "let not our hearts deviate" means: do not make them incline, so that You turn them away from Your guidance, after You have guided us to it and made us fit for belief in the clear and the ambiguous of Your Book. And "grant us" — O our Lord — "from Yourself mercy" means: from with You mercy, that is to say: grant us from with You success (tawfīq) and steadfastness upon that which we are upon, namely the affirmation of the clear and the ambiguous of Your Book. And "verily, You are the Bestower" means: verily, You are the One who bestows upon Your servants the success and right-guidance to steadfastness upon Your religion, and to holding Your Book and Your messengers to be true, as:
6649 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: "Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us," that is to say: do not make our hearts incline, even though we incline through our deeds¹⁶¹ — "and grant us from Yourself mercy."¹⁶²
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Abū Jaʿfar said: In the praise with which Allah — exalted is His praise — has praised these people — because of their longing toward Him that He not make their hearts deviate, and that He grant them mercy from Him as support for steadfastness upon that which they are upon of sound insight into the truth to which they hold fast — in that lies what demonstrates the falsity of the statement of the ignorant among the Qadarites:¹⁶³ namely that Allah's making the heart deviate, of whoever of His servants has made his heart deviate from His obedience, and His making it incline away from that, would be an injustice (jawr). For if that were so as they say, then those who said: "Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us," would deserve rebuke rather than praise. For if the statement were as they say, then these people would only — by their request to Him that He not make their hearts deviate¹⁶⁴ — have asked Him that He do them no injustice and not act unjustly toward them. And that, from the petitioner, is a kind of ignorance, for Allah — exalted is His praise — does His servants no injustice and does not act unjustly toward them. He has already made that known to His servants and negated it of Himself by His word: وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِظَلامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ ("And your Lord does no injustice to the servants") [Surah Fuṣṣilat: 46]. And there is no ground to ask Him that He be with the attribute of which He has already informed them that He is free. And in the corruption of what they said about that lies the clear proof that it is, from Allah — mighty and exalted is He — a just act: the making to deviate of whoever of His servants has made his heart deviate from His obedience. Therefore he who longed toward Him that He not make him deviate deserved praise, because of his directing his longing toward those to whom it is due, and his placing his request in its proper place — alongside the fact that the reports about the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, corroborate one another concerning his longing toward his Lord in this respect, despite his position with Him and his standing with Him.
6650 — Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Umm Salama: that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "O You who turn the hearts, make my heart steadfast upon Your religion!" Then he recited: "Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us," to the end of the verse.¹⁶⁵
6651 — Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Asmāʾ, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in like manner.¹⁶⁶
6652 — Al-Muthannā related to us, he said: al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām al-Fazārī related to us, he said: Shahr ibn Ḥawshab related to us, he said: I heard Umm Salama relate: that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, often said in his supplication: "O Allah, You who turn the hearts, make my heart steadfast upon Your religion!" She said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, is the heart then turned?" He said: "Yes, Allah has not created any human being of the children of Adam but that his heart is between two of His fingers; if He wills He keeps it upright, and if He wills He makes it deviate. We therefore ask Allah, our Lord, that He not make our hearts deviate after He has guided us, and we ask Him that He grant us from Himself mercy; verily, He is the Bestower." She said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, will you not teach me a supplication with which I may pray for myself?" He said: "Indeed; say: O Allah, Lord of the Prophet Muḥammad, forgive me my sin, remove the anger of my heart, and protect me from the misleading seditions (fitan)."¹⁶⁷
6653 — Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr al-Ṭūsī related to me, he said: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Zubayrī related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, he said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, often said: "O You who turn the hearts, make my heart steadfast upon Your religion." Then one of his household said to him: "Is there fear for us, while we have believed in you and in what you have brought?!" He said: "The heart is between two fingers of the fingers of the Merciful, blessed and exalted is He; He turns it this way thus" — and Abū Aḥmad moved his two fingers. Abū Jaʿfar said: and al-Ṭūsī brought his two fingers together.¹⁶⁸
6654 — Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā al-Umawī related to me, he said: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, he said: al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of Abū Sufyān, on the authority of Anas, he said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, often said: "O You who turn the hearts, make my heart steadfast upon Your religion." We said: "O Messenger of Allah, we have believed in you and held true what you have brought, is there then fear for us?!" He said: "Yes, the hearts are between two fingers of the fingers of Allah; He turns them, blessed and exalted is He."¹⁶⁹
6655 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, he said: Bishr ibn Bakr related to us — and ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, he said: Ayyūb ibn Bishr related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Jābir, he said: I heard Busr ibn ʿUbayd Allāh say: I heard Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī say: I heard al-Nawwās ibn Samʿān al-Kilābī say: I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say: "There is no heart but that it is between two fingers of the fingers of the Merciful: if He wills He keeps it upright, and if He wills He makes it deviate." And the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "O You who turn the hearts, make our hearts steadfast upon Your religion" — and the balance is in the hand of the Merciful; He raises peoples and abases others until the Day of Resurrection.¹⁷⁰
6656 — ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Ṭāʾī related to me, he said: Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayda related to us, he said: al-Jarrāḥ ibn Malīḥ al-Bahrānī related to us, on the authority of al-Zubaydī, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of Samura ibn Fātik al-Asdī — who was among the companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace —, on the authority of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that he said: "The balances are in the hand of Allah; He raises peoples and abases peoples, and the heart of the son of Adam is between two fingers of the fingers of the Merciful; when He wills He makes it deviate, and when He wills He keeps it upright."¹⁷¹
6657 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, he said: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Ḥaywa ibn Shurayḥ, he said: Abū Hāniʾ al-Khawlānī informed me: that he heard Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥubulī say: I heard ʿAbd Allāh ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ say: I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say: "Verily, the hearts of the children of Adam are all of them between two fingers of the fingers of the Merciful as a single heart; He turns them as He wills." Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "O Allah, You who turn the hearts, turn our hearts toward Your obedience."¹⁷²
6658 — Al-Rabīʿ ibn Sulaymān related to us, he said: Asad ibn Mūsā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām related to us, he said: Shahr ibn Ḥawshab related to us, he said: I heard Umm Salama relate: that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, often said in his supplication: "O Allah, make my heart steadfast upon Your religion." She said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, are the hearts then turned?" He said: "Yes, there is no creature that Allah has created of the children of Adam, no human being, but that his heart is between two fingers of the fingers of Allah; if He wills He keeps it upright, and if He wills He makes it deviate. We therefore ask Allah, our Lord, that He not make our hearts deviate after He has guided us, and we ask Him that He grant us from Himself mercy; verily, He is the Bestower."¹⁷³
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The footnotes:
(161) In the printed edition it reads "through our bodies" (bi-ajsādinā), which has no meaning; it is a corruption of the narration on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq. The correct reading comes from the manuscript and from Ibn Hishām 2: 226. Al-aḥdāth is the plural of ḥadath: that is the deed. They ask Allah to make their hearts steadfast in faith, even though their deeds incline toward some disobedience.
(162) The narration 6649 is the continuation of the earlier narrations, the last of which bore the number 6648.
(163) The Qadarites: they are the deniers of predestination (qadar) and the attributes; what is meant is the Muʿtazila.
(164) In the printed edition it reads "masʾalatahum" with omission of the bāʾ; the correct form comes from the manuscript.
(165) The ḥadīth 6650: this is a sound (ṣaḥīḥ) chain of narration. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām: trustworthy (thiqa), his biography has already been given under 1605. And Shahr ibn Ḥawshab: likewise trustworthy, as we have said under 1489. This ḥadīth is an abridged version. It will follow in expanded form under 6652, and we treat it there, if Allah wills. And it comes in a form longer than this and in an abridged form relative to it, under 6658.
(166) The ḥadīth 6651: this too is a sound chain of narration. But here it is from the narration of Shahr on the authority of Asmāʾ, and she is the daughter of Yazīd ibn al-Sakan al-Anṣārīya. And the preceding one is from the narration of Shahr on the authority of Umm Salama, the mother of the believers. I have found it on the authority of Asmāʾ only in this narration in al-Ṭabarī, and in a narration which Ibn Kathīr mentions on the authority of Ibn Mardawayh. Ibn Kathīr said 2: 102, after mentioning the preceding narration of Umm Salama: "And Ibn Mardawayh narrated it through Muḥammad ibn Bakkār, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Umm Salama, on the authority of Asmāʾ bint Yazīd ibn al-Sakan; I heard her relate that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, often said in his supplication..." — and he mentioned something similar to the narration that follows this ḥadīth. Then Ibn Kathīr said: "And thus Ibn Jarīr narrated it, from the ḥadīth of Asad ibn Mūsā, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām, from it, in like manner." Then he said: "And he also narrated it on the authority of al-Muthannā, on the authority of al-Ḥajjāj ibn Minhāl, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām, from it, in like manner." It is plain and clear that his word in the narration of Ibn Mardawayh "on the authority of Umm Salama, on the authority of Asmāʾ bint Yazīd ibn al-Sakan" is an error about which there is no doubt. It seems that it is an error of the copyists, in the addition of the word "ʿan" (on the authority of). And the correct form of it is "on the authority of Umm Salama Asmāʾ...". And "Asmāʾ bint Yazīd ibn al-Sakan al-Anṣārīya": a well-known female companion; she is the cousin of Muʿādh ibn Jabal, and her byname is "Umm Salama". And Shahr ibn Ḥawshab is known for his narration from her; indeed, Ibn al-Sakan said: "He is the person who narrates most from her." And he was among her freedmen. We have never heard that "Umm Salama, the mother of the believers" narrated from this Asmāʾ, nor that she narrated from any other companion. As for Ibn Kathīr's reference to the two narrations of al-Ṭabarī from the ḥadīth of "Asad ibn Mūsā" and "al-Ḥajjāj ibn Minhāl" — on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām — and those are the two coming narrations 6652 and 6658 —: that is problematic, for it gives the impression that they are like the narration of Ibn Mardawayh: "on the authority of Umm Salama Asmāʾ bint Yazīd". Perhaps Ibn Kathīr proceeded to this, on the supposition that by these narrations which are in al-Ṭabarī — 6650, 6652, 6658 — in which it says "on the authority of Umm Salama," what is meant is "Umm Salama Asmāʾ bint Yazīd". If this is his supposition, then he has erred in his supposition. For "Umm Salama" in these three narrations — is with certainty the mother of the believers, as will follow in the textual-critical treatment of the ḥadīth that comes after this, 6652.
(167) The ḥadīth 6652: this is the expanded narration to which we referred under 6650, and it will follow in somewhat abridged form under 6658, as we said earlier. The ḥadīth has been narrated by Aḥmad in abridged form — in the Musnad of Umm Salama, the mother of the believers — 6: 294 (Ḥalabī), on the authority of Wakīʿ, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Umm Salama: "that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: O You who turn the hearts, make my heart steadfast upon Your religion." And this is similar to the preceding narration 6650, except that Abū Kurayb added to it the recitation of the verse. Aḥmad has also narrated it — in her Musnad — 6: 301-302, on the authority of Hāshim — and that is Ibn al-Qāsim Abū al-Naḍr — on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahrām, with this chain of narration, in like manner. Except that at the end of it he said: "and protect me from the misleading seditions as long as You keep us alive." Then he narrated it in abridged form, without mention of the verse, nor of his word "We therefore ask Allah, our Lord" and so forth, 6: 315 (Ḥalabī), on the authority of Muʿādh ibn Muʿādh, he said: "Abū Kaʿb, the owner of the silk, related to us, he said: Shahr ibn Ḥawshab related to me, he said: I said to Umm Salama: O mother of the believers, what was the most frequent supplication of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when he was with you?..." Then ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad said — adjoining that —: "I asked my father about Abū Kaʿb? He said: trustworthy, and his name is ʿAbd Rabbihi ibn ʿUbayd." Likewise al-Tirmidhī narrated it 4: 266, on the authority of Abū Mūsā al-Anṣārī, on the authority of Muʿādh ibn Muʿādh, from it. And he said: "This is a good (ḥasan) ḥadīth." And Abū Kaʿb, the owner of the silk, ʿAbd Rabbihi ibn ʿUbayd al-Azdī al-Jarmūzī: he too has been declared trustworthy by Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, Ibn Maʿīn and others. He has a biography in al-Tahdhīb, and in Ibn Abī Ḥātim 3/1/41-42. Al-Haythamī has mentioned him in Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid three times, 6: 325, 7: 210, 10: 176, on account of the narration of the Musnad, and he pointed out that al-Tirmidhī narrated a part of it, and he declared it defective in two places on account of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, "who is weak, although he has been declared trustworthy." And in the last place he said: "His chain of narration is good (ḥasan)." Al-Suyūṭī has mentioned it 2: 8, and he added the attribution to Ibn Abī Shayba, without distinction between the narrations. And the imam of imams Ibn Khuzayma has narrated it, in the book al-Tawḥīd, p. 55, from the narration of Ibn Wahb, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Nashīṭ al-Waʿlānī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥusayn al-Makkī, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Umm Salama, in like manner. And this chain of narration too is sound. And Abū Bakr al-Ājurrī has narrated it, in the book al-Sharīʿa, p. 316, by two other routes, on the authority of Umm Salama. And in the printed edition there occurred: "Allah has not created any human being, of the children of Adam," with reversal of order. We have adopted what is in the manuscript, and it agrees with the rest of the narrations in which this word occurs.
(168) The ḥadīth 6653: Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr ibn Dāwūd, al-Ṭūsī the ascetic, the teacher of al-Ṭabarī: trustworthy; Aḥmad praised him, and al-Nasāʾī and others declared him trustworthy. And the ḥadīth has been narrated by al-Ḥākim in al-Mustadrak 2: 288-289, through al-Aʿmash, with this chain of narration. And he declared it sound according to the condition of Muslim. But the beginning of his chain of narration, from al-Ḥākim to al-Aʿmash, is not mentioned, because in the source manuscripts of al-Mustadrak at this place there is a lacuna (kharm). And the place of it has been filled in from the Talkhīṣ of al-Dhahabī. And al-Suyūṭī has mentioned it 2: 9, and he added the attribution to al-Ṭabarānī in al-Sunna. And al-Tirmidhī referred to it 3: 199, as we will mention with the ḥadīth after it. And his word "yaqūlu bihimā" (He says/does with them both) is the correct form that is in the manuscript. And in the printed edition it reads "yaqūlu bihi". And his word "wasaqa bayna iṣbaʿayhi": wasaqa a thing: he brought it together. He means: he joined his two fingers together.
(169) The ḥadīth 6654: Aḥmad has narrated it in the Musnad: 12133 (vol. 3 p. 112 Ḥalabī), on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, with this chain of narration. Then he narrated it: 13731 (vol. 3 p. 257 Ḥalabī), on the authority of ʿAffān, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Wāḥid, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Mihrān — and that is al-Aʿmash — from it. And al-Tirmidhī has narrated it 3: 199, on the authority of Hannād, on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya, from it. Then he said: "This is a good, sound (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ) ḥadīth, and thus more than one has narrated it on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Sufyān, on the authority of Anas. And some have narrated it on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. And the ḥadīth of Abū Sufyān on the authority of Anas is more correct." Al-Tirmidhī means to declare defective the ḥadīth that precedes this. And it is a defect that does not hold up. And Abū Sufyān Ṭalḥa ibn Nāfiʿ: a trustworthy Successor; he heard from Jābir and from Anas, and the compilers of the Six Books have narrated from him. And often the Successor hears one and the same ḥadīth from two companions. And al-Ḥākim has narrated it 1: 526, in abridged form, through Abū Muʿāwiya, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, and he and al-Dhahabī declared it sound. And Ibn Māja has narrated it — in expanded form — by another route; he narrated it: 3834, through Ibn Numayr, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Yazīd al-Raqāshī, on the authority of Anas. And al-Būṣīrī said in his Zawāʾid: "The pivot of the ḥadīth is Yazīd al-Raqāshī, and he is weak." And the ḥāfiẓ al-Dimyāṭī erred — as you see — in his claim that its pivot is Yazīd al-Raqāshī; and here it is, it is from the narration of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Sufyān, on the authority of Anas, like the narration of al-Raqāshī. He is therefore not alone in it. And al-Bukhārī combined the two routes in al-Adab al-Mufrad, p. 100. He narrated it in abridged form, through Abū al-Aḥwaṣ: "on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Sufyān and Yazīd, on the authority of Anas." And al-Suyūṭī has mentioned it 2: 8, and he added the attribution to Ibn Abī Shayba.
(170) The ḥadīth 6655: Bishr ibn Bakr al-Tinnīsī: trustworthy, reliable. Al-Shāfiʿī, al-Ḥumaydī and others narrated from him. And al-Bukhārī narrated from him. Ayyūb ibn Bishr: I have not found a narrator with this name, nor anything resembling it in spelling, except narrators with the name "Ayyūb ibn Bishīr" who do not belong to this generation, and who do not fit in this chain of narration. And among the narrators on the authority of Ibn Jābir is "Ayyūb ibn Suwayd al-Ramlī." And it is very close that his fellow townsman "ʿAlī ibn Sahl al-Ramlī" narrates from him. But the corruption of "Suwayd" into "Bishr" is difficult. Ibn Jābir: he is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yazīd ibn Jābir, al-Azdī al-Shāmī al-Dārānī. And he is trustworthy; the community [of the six compilers] narrated from him. And Ibn al-Madīnī said: "He is counted among the second generation of the jurists of Syria after the companions." Busr ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Ḥaḍramī al-Shāmī: a trustworthy Successor. The community narrated from him. And Abū Mushir said: "He is the most retentive of memory of the students of Abū Idrīs," meaning al-Khawlānī. And "Busr": with a ḍamma on the bāʾ and sukūn on the undotted sīn. And his father "ʿUbayd Allāh": with diminutive. And in the printed edition there occurred here "Bishr." And that is a corruption. And likewise it occurred in some ḥadīth reference works which we will mention, and in some of them the name of his father occurred as "ʿAbd Allāh." And that too is an error. This and that must be corrected wherever they occur. Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī: ʿĀʾidh Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh. His biography has already been given under 4840. Al-Nawwās: with fatḥa on the nūn and doubling of the wāw, and he is a well-known companion. And the ḥadīth has been narrated by Aḥmad in the Musnad: 17707 (vol. 4 p. 182 Ḥalabī), on the authority of al-Walīd ibn Muslim, on the authority of Ibn Jābir, with this chain of narration. And Ibn Māja narrated it: 199, through Ṣadaqa ibn Khālid, on the authority of Ibn Jābir, from it. And al-Būṣīrī said in his Zawāʾid: "Its chain of narration is sound." And the imam of imams Ibn Khuzayma narrated it, in the book al-Tawḥīd, p. 54, and Abū Bakr al-Ājurrī, in the book al-Sharīʿa, p. 317-318, both through al-Walīd ibn Muslim, on the authority of Ibn Jābir. And al-Ḥākim narrated it in al-Mustadrak 2: 289, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Ṣifāt, p. 248 — on the authority of al-Ḥākim, through Muḥammad ibn Shuʿayb ibn Shābūr, on the authority of Ibn Jābir. And al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī declared it sound according to the condition of the two shaykhs [al-Bukhārī and Muslim]. And this place in al-Mustadrak exhibits a lacuna in its printed source manuscript, and the editor filled it in from the abridgment of al-Dhahabī. But the chain of narration of this route can be derived from the narration of al-Bayhaqī on the authority of al-Ḥākim. And al-Ḥākim also narrated it 4: 321, on the authority of Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Aṣamm, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam — the teacher of al-Ṭabarī in the first chain of narration here — with this chain of narration. And he also narrated it 1: 525, on the authority of al-Aṣamm, on the authority of Baḥr ibn Naṣr, on the authority of Bishr ibn Bakr, on the authority of Ibn Jābir, from it. And al-Ḥākim said in both places: "This is a sound ḥadīth according to the condition of Muslim"! And it is astonishing that al-Dhahabī agrees with him in his declaring it sound according to the condition of the two shaykhs from the narration of Ibn Shābūr. And Ibn Shābūr, even though he is trustworthy, yet nothing of his is included in the two Ṣaḥīḥs; and that he then agrees with him in his declaring it sound according to the condition of Muslim from the narration of Bishr ibn Bakr. And Bishr ibn Bakr — al-Bukhārī narrated from him, and Muslim included nothing of his! And the ḥadīth has been mentioned by al-Suyūṭī 2: 9, and he added the attribution to al-Nasāʾī. He means therefore al-Sunan al-Kubrā, because he did not narrate it in al-Sunan al-Ṣughrā.
(171) The ḥadīth 6656: ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Ḥakīm al-Ṭāʾī al-Ḥimṣī — the teacher of al-Ṭabarī: I have found for him only a brief biography in al-Tahdhīb, in which: "Al-Nasāʾī narrated from him and said: sound (ṣāliḥ)." Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayda: I do not know who he is, nor have I found a biography for him, except that al-Tahdhīb mentioned him as a teacher of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Ṭāʾī, and mentioned him under the name: "Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayda, al-Madadī, al-Yamānī." And I have found no meaning for this attribution "al-Madadī", with two dāls. And it is possible that it is a corruption of "al-Madarī" with a rāʾ, an attribution to "Madar", with fatḥa on the mīm and the dāl and at the end a rāʾ, and that is a village in Yemen, twenty miles from Ṣanʿāʾ, as in Muʿjam al-Buldān 7: 416. Al-Jarrāḥ ibn Malīḥ al-Bahrānī — with fatḥa on the bāʾ and sukūn on the hāʾ — al-Ḥimṣī: trustworthy, and he is well-known among the people of Syria. And he is other than "al-Jarrāḥ ibn Malīḥ ibn ʿAdī", the father of "Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ". Al-Zubaydī — with ḍamma on the zāy: he is Muḥammad ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿĀmir al-Zubaydī, Abū al-Hudhayl al-Ḥimṣī, its judge. And he is trustworthy and firm; Ibn Saʿd said 7/2/169: "He was the most learned of the people of Syria in fatwā and ḥadīth." And al-Awzāʿī "gave preference to Muḥammad ibn al-Walīd over all who heard from al-Zuhrī." Juwaybir: thus it occurred in al-Ṭabarī. And the most likely and clear is that it is a corruption of the copyists, and that Juwaybir — and he is Ibn Saʿīd al-Azdī — has nothing to do with this ḥadīth. And Juwaybir: very weak, as we have set out under 284. And the ḥadīth is rather well-known on the authority of "Jubayr ibn Nufayr", as will follow. Samura ibn Fātik al-Asdī: thus it is established in al-Ṭabarī, "Samura" with the mīm, thus with ḍamma with fatḥa on the undotted sīn. And that is one statement about his name. And the correct and most likely is that his name is "Sabra", with fatḥa on the undotted sīn and sukūn on the bāʾ. And there is another companion whose name is "Samura ibn Fātik al-Asdī," other than this one. And thus al-Bukhārī distinguished between the two in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr: 2/2/188 under "Sabra" and 178 under "Samura". And he mentioned this ḥadīth under "Sabra". And thus also Ibn Abī Ḥātim distinguished between the two 1/2/295 "Sabra" and 155 "Samura". And it has also been said of the other companion, whose name is "Samura" — "Sabra". And that is a confusion of the narrators or a corruption. And the most likely, which the ḥāfiẓ declared correct in al-Iṣāba 3: 63-64, 131-132: is that they are two, as we have said, and that the narrator of this ḥadīth is "Sabra". And I have not permitted myself to change what is in the text of al-Ṭabarī to the correct and most likely "Sabra" — because of the existence of the other statement. Perhaps it occurred to him thus in his narration. And "Sabra": with sukūn on the bāʾ, as we have said. And in its establishment in his biography in al-Iṣāba a grave error occurred, for the ḥāfiẓ said: "with fatḥa on the first and kasra on the second"; and no one has ever said that in the establishment of the name "Sabra"; indeed, he himself established the name "Sabra," in a place other than this biography, "with sukūn on the bāʾ". And he established the name of this companion also with sukūn, in al-Mushtabih of al-Dhahabī, p. 255. And he mentioned no other name with this spelling with kasra on the bāʾ. And thus the ḥāfiẓ did also in Tabṣīr al-Muntabih. What therefore occurred in al-Iṣāba is only a slip of his — may Allah have mercy on him — and a slip of the pen. And "al-Asdī" — in this biography: "with fatḥa on the hamza and sukūn on the sīn". And it is: al-Azdī. Thus it is said with the sīn and the zāy. Abū al-Qāsim made that clear in Ṭabaqāt Ḥimṣ. Thus said the ḥāfiẓ in al-Iṣāba. And this ḥadīth has been narrated by al-Bukhārī in al-Kabīr, in the biography of "Sabra ibn Fātik". He said: "Ḥaywa ibn Shurayḥ related to us, Muḥammad ibn Ḥarb related to us, on the authority of al-Zubaydī, from someone who related to him, on the authority of Jubayr ibn Nufayr, on the authority of Sabra ibn Fātik, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: The balances are in the hand of Allah; He raises a people and abases a people, and the heart of the son of Adam is between two fingers of the fingers of the Lord, mighty and exalted is He; when He wills He keeps it upright, and when He wills He makes it deviate." Thus it is established with an unnamed narrator between al-Zubaydī and Jubayr ibn Nufayr — in al-Bukhārī. And the ḥāfiẓ said in al-Iṣāba: "And it came to me in Gharāʾib Shuʿba of Ibn Manda, through Jubayr ibn Nufayr, on the authority of Sabra ibn Fātik, he said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: The balance is in the hand of the Merciful; He raises peoples and abases others — the ḥadīth. And he brought it out by another route, and said: Samura." We have therefore not learned concerning the narration of Ibn Manda: whether in it the unnamed man on the authority of Jubayr ibn Nufayr occurs, or whether he is made known therein by his name? And I suspect that if his name had been unnamed therein, the ḥāfiẓ would have clarified that. And it is possible that this unnamed one — is "ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Jubayr ibn Nufayr", for he narrates on the authority of his father, and al-Zubaydī narrates on his authority. And what makes me suspect that this unnamed one in some narrations is named by his name: that al-Haythamī mentioned this ḥadīth in Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 7: 211 "on the authority of Samura ibn Fātik al-Asdī", and then said: "Al-Ṭabarānī narrated it, and its narrators are trustworthy." And al-Suyūṭī has mentioned it 2: 8, and attributed it to al-Bukhārī in his Tārīkh, and to Ibn Jarīr, and to al-Ṭabarānī. And he added nothing. In the printed edition it reads: "in shāʾa... wa-in shāʾa". And I have adopted what is in the manuscript. And it agrees with the narration of al-Kabīr of al-Bukhārī.
(172) The ḥadīth 6657: Abū Hāniʾ al-Khawlānī — with fatḥa on the dotted khāʾ and sukūn on the wāw: he is Ḥumayd ibn Hāniʾ al-Miṣrī. And he is a well-known trustworthy narrator. Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥubulī — with ḍamma on the undotted ḥāʾ and the bāʾ: he is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd al-Maʿāfirī — with fatḥa on the mīm and the undotted ʿayn — al-Miṣrī. And he is a trustworthy Successor. And he is one of the ten Successors whom ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz sent to instruct the people of Ifrīqiya in the religion and to teach them the matter of their religion. See the book Riyāḍ al-Nufūs of Abū Bakr al-Mālikī, vol. 1 p. 64-65, and Ṭabaqāt ʿUlamāʾ Ifrīqiya of Abū al-ʿArab, p. 21. And the ḥadīth has been narrated by Aḥmad in the Musnad: 6569, on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān — and that is al-Muqriʾ — on the authority of Ḥaywa ibn Shurayḥ, with this chain of narration. And Muslim has narrated it 2: 301, on the authority of Zuhayr ibn Ḥarb and Ibn Numayr — both on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Muqriʾ. And Abū Bakr al-Ājurrī has narrated it in the book al-Sharīʿa, p. 316, with two chains of narration, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Ṣifāt, p. 248 — both through al-Muqriʾ. And al-Suyūṭī has mentioned it 2: 9, and he added the attribution to al-Nasāʾī.
(173) The ḥadīth 6658: it is an abridgment of the ḥadīth 6652. And we have already completed the textual-critical treatment of it, and we have referred there to this. And here there occurred in the manuscript and the printed edition: "of the children of Adam, a human being". And perhaps it is better that it be "of a human being", like the rest of the narrations.
