. I (cont.)

It has been graded sahih by al-Albaani, Ahmad Shaakir, ibn Muhammad, al-Hilaali and Shuaib al­ Arnaoot.2 This text has been recorded by Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, Abu Yala, ibn Abu Asim, al-Tirmidhi, ibn al-Sunni and others. Ahmad's chain is: Yunus narrated to us, saying: al-Laith [that is, al-Laith ibn Saad] narrated to us on the authority of Qais ibn al-Hajjaaj on the authority ofHanash al-Sanaani on the authority of Abdullah ibn Abbaas. A number of narrators narrated this hadith from Qais. This chain itself is a strong or hasan chain, according to Shuaib al-Arnaoot, et al., and al-Ajmi. Ibn Muhammad concluded that it is a sahih chain,3 but this does not seem to be correct. Qais is an honest, good narrator but not up to the level of sahih hadith. The rest of the narrators in the chain are narrators found in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, with the exception of Hanash who 1 Al-Nawawi, Sharh Matn, p. 92. 2 Al-Albaani, sahih al-Jaami, vol. 2, pp. 13 17-1318; Shaakir's footnotes to ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 4, p. 286; ibn Muhammad, p. 141; al-Hilaali, Eeqaadh, p. 280; and Shuaib al­ Amaoot's footnotes to ibn Rajah, Jaami, vol. I , pp. 459-460. 3 Ibn Muhammad, p. 141. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi is only found in Sahih Muslim. 1 According to ibn Munduh and others, this is the strongest chain of all of the different narrations of this hadith.2 Ahmad has also recorded this hadith with a slightly different wording. The text of that narration is, on the authority of ibn Ab baas who said: ` ,,,, ,,, 1;.; є\ ߶ dj 7?J1 "I was riding behind the Prophet (peace be upon him) and he said, 'O young man,' or, 'O Ghulaim,3 shall I not teach you some statements by which Allah will benefit you.' I said, 'Certainly.' He said, 'Be mindful of Allah and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find Him in front of you. Become beloved to Him during times of ease and He will know you during times of hardship. If you are about to ask, ask of Allah. If you want to seek refuge, seek refuge in Allah. The pens have been lifted with what will occur. If all of the creation wanted to benefit you with something that Allah had not recorded for you, they would not be able to do so. And if they wanted to harm you with something that Allah had not recorded against you, they would not be able to do so. Realize that there is a great deal of good in having patience over those things you dislike. [Realize also] that victory accompanies perseverance, relief accompanies difficulties and ease accompanies hardship.' Before presenting this hadith, Ahmad recorded three different chains. Then he said, "I do not memorize the differences in their narrations." Of the three chains that he mentioned, two of them have broken chains and one of them has an unbroken chain. The first chain is from al-Hajaaj al-Furaafidha from ibn Abbaas. Most of al-Hajaaj's narrations are from the later Followers. 1 See Shuaib al-Arnaoot, et al., footnotes to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad al-Imam Ahmad (Beirut: Muassasat al-Risaalah, 1995), vol. 4, pp. 409-4 1 1 . Also see Muhammad al-Ajmi's footnotes to Abdul Rahmaan ibn Rajah, Noor al-Iqtibaas ft Mishkaat Wasiyyah al-Nabiyy li-ibn Abbaas (Beirut: Daar al-Bashaair al-Islaamiyah, 1989), pp. 31-35. (This work just referred to by ibn Rajah is a book that is entirely a commentary on this hadith ofibn Abbaas.) 2 lbn Rajah, Jaami, vol. 1 , p. 561 . 3 "O ghulaim" is a diminutive call which also has the meaning, "young man". Hadith #19: "Young man, I shall teach you some words ... " He never narrated hadith from ibn Abbaas, although he may have seen him when he was young. The second chain is from Humaam ibn Y ah ya ibn Dinaar on the authority of ibn Abbaas. Humaam comes a little later than al-Hajaaj and, hence, this chain is definitely broken. However, al-Baihaqi records it from him with the chain Humaam from Qais from Hanash from ibn Abbaas. This chain, therefore, is unbroken. The third chain is Abdullah ibn Y azeed from both Abdullah ibn Laheea and Naafi ibn Yazeed. They narrated this from Qais ibn al-Hajaaj from Hanash al-Sanaani from ibn Abbaas. This chain is unbroken. In general, Abdullah ibn Laheea is not considered a strong narrator but Abdullah ibn Y azeed narrated from him before his books were burned in a fire and his narrations are considered strong. Hence, this is a strong chain for this narration.1 It is somewhat strange that al-Nawawi presents a different text of this hadith and before it simply says, "In a narration other than that of al-Tirmidhi," without stating where that narration is to be found. The second narration mentioned by al-Nawawi is recorded by Abd ibn Humaid in his Musnad.