I said: This chain is very weak, its flaw being al-Muʿallá ibn ʿIrfān. Ibn Maʿīn said: "He is nothing." Al-Bukhārī said: "His ḥadīth is rejected," and al-Nasāʾī said: "His ḥadīth is abandoned." Then al-ʿUqaylī said: "This is narrated with a different chain, differing in wording but similar in meaning, through the route of Ṣāliḥ." I said: It seems he is referring to the previous route of Abū Hurayrah. It was narrated by al-Haytham ibn Kulayb in "al-Musnad" (64/2) and Abū Bakr al-Shāfiʿī in "al-Fawāʾid" (10/100/2) from Muṣʿab ibn Saʿīd, who informed us from ʿĪsá ibn Yūnus with it. But this Muṣʿab — who is al-Muṣīṣī — is weak. There is another supporting narration reported by Shibl ibn al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān from Sumay, the freed slave of Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith, from Nawfal ibn Muʿāwiyah as a marfūʿ ḥadīth with the wording: "He would drink in three breaths, mentioning Allāh at the beginning and praising Him at the end." It was recorded by Ibn al-Sunnī (466) and al-Ṭabarānī in "al-Awsaṭ" as well. Al-Haythamī said: "And Shibl ibn al-ʿAlāʾ is weak." I said: Ibn ʿAdī said: "He narrated rejected ḥadīths." Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him in "al-Thiqāt." Thus, he is acceptable in supporting narrations, so the ḥadīth is authentic, if Allāh wills.

"He would pass by the young boys, greet them, and pray for blessings for them." It was narrated by Ibn ʿAsākir (17/445/2) from al-Walīd ibn Muḥammad al-Mawqarī from al-Zuhrī from Anas ibn Mālik, who mentioned it. I said: Al-Mawqarī is abandoned, as the ḥāfiẓ said, but the ḥadīth is with al-Bukhārī (11/27 - Fatḥ) and Muslim (7/5-6) and al-Dārimī (2/276) and others through the route of Thābit al-Bunānī from Anas ibn Mālik (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu): that he passed by some children, greeted them, and said: "The Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) used to do this." The ḥāfiẓ said: