It was recorded by Muslim and al-Bukhārī in "al-Adab al-Mufrad" (339), al-Tirmidhī (3/284), Ibn Mājah (2/407), and Aḥmad also through the route of Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit from him. Al-Tirmidhī said: "A good and authentic ḥadīth." I said: Ibn Abī Najīḥ corroborated it from Mujāhid: "That Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ sent a delegation from Iraq to ʿUthmān, and they came praising him, so al-Miqdād started throwing dirt in their faces, and he said" and mentioned something similar. In another wording: "Al-Miqdād stood up and said: I heard the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) say: Throw dirt in the faces of those who excessively praise. Al-Zubayr said: As for al-Miqdād, he has fulfilled his duty." It was recorded by Aḥmad, and its narrators are trustworthy, but it is disconnected, as Mujāhid did not hear from ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, who died in the year (35), and al-Miqdād, who died two years before him, so between them is Abū Maʿmar as in the previous narration from Ḥabīb, even though Ḥabīb was known for tadlīs and he narrated it in an ambiguous manner. The third [narration]: from ʿAbd Allāh al-Bahī. "A group stopped by ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān and praised him, and there was al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad, who took a handful of earth..." and the ḥadīth is similar. It was recorded by Aḥmad and the men of its isnād are trustworthy, so it is authentic if al-Bahī witnessed the incident, which I do not believe. The fourth [narration]: from Maymūn ibn Shabīb who said: "A man came praising an official of ʿUthmān in the presence of al-Miqdād, so he threw dirt in his face..." and the ḥadīth. It was recorded by Aḥmad and Abū Nuʿaym in "al-Ḥilyah" (4/377)