the isnād [chain of transmission] in the original is as follows: a blank space between Kaʿb and Maʿd. Perhaps the correct version is: al-Miqdām ibn Maʿdīkarib, as the ḥadīth was mentioned by the ḥāfiẓ in "al-Iṣābah" who said: "Abū Nuʿaym said: 'It was narrated by Abū Salām from al-Miqdām al-Kindī who said: al-Ḥārith ibn Muʿāwiyah al-Kindī.'" al-Miqdām al-Kindī is ibn Maʿdīkarib, a well-known Companion, whereas there is a difference of opinion regarding al-Ḥārith's companionship. The ḥāfiẓ in "al-Taʿjīl" suggested that he was from the Mukhaḍramūn. A similar mention is in "al-Iṣābah." Ghaylān is ibn Anas, and it is stated in "al-Taqrīb": "Accepted." The rest of the men are trustworthy except for Manṣūr al-Khawlānī, for whom I did not find a biography.

"The best of the Companions are four, the best of the detachments are four hundred, the best of the armies are four thousand, and twelve thousand will not be defeated due to lack of numbers." It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd (1/407), al-Tirmidhī (1/294), Ibn Khuzaymah in "Ṣaḥīḥ" (1/255/1), Ibn Ḥibbān (1663), al-Ḥākim (1/443 and 2/101), Aḥmad (1/294), ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd in "al-Muntaqá min al-Musnad" (73/1), Muḥammad ibn Makhlad in "al-Muntaqá min Ḥadīthihi" (2/3/2), and al-Ḍiyāʾ in "al-Mukhtārah" (62/292/2) through the route of Wahb ibn Jarīr who reported from his father, who heard from Yūnus, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from Ibn ʿAbbās, in a marfūʿ manner. al-Ḥākim said: "Authentic according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs, but they did not include it due to a disagreement among the transmitters about it from al-Zuhrī."