I said: and the fact that this ʿAbd Allāh is al-ʿUmrī is what is most likely in my view, contrary to what al-Haythamī said in "al-Majmaʿ" (8/63): "Aḥmad narrated it, and in it is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd al-Maqburī, who is abandoned." I said: and what led him to assert that it was ʿAbd Allāh al-Maqburī is his fame for narrating from his father Saʿīd al-Maqburī. So his assumption went in that direction, but al-ʿUmrī is also among those who narrate from Saʿīd al-Maqburī. Therefore, another evidence was needed to prefer one over the other, and my evidence for what I preferred is that Imām Aḥmad, may Allāh have mercy on him, included this ḥadīth among other ḥadīths by Surayj who narrated to us from ʿAbd Allāh from Nāfiʿ from Ibn ʿUmar, and ʿAbd Allāh in this context is certainly al-ʿUmrī, due to his frequent narrations from Nāfiʿ firstly, and because ʿAbd Allāh al-Maqburī was not mentioned to have narrated from Nāfiʿ secondly, and Allāh knows best. And I suspect that al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar leans towards what I have preferred, for he mentioned the ḥadīth in "al-Fatḥ" (11/70) from this narration of Aḥmad, and he remained silent about it. It is known among those knowledgeable in this field that al-Ḥāfiẓ's silence indicates that it is ḥasan. If he had thought it was al-Maqburī, he would not have remained silent about it, by the will of Allāh, but would have clarified its status, for he is abandoned and accused of lying. And Allāh, the Exalted, knows best. And he was followed by Dāwūd ibn Qays who said: I heard Saʿīd al-Maqburī say: and he mentioned it similarly, except that he did not raise the ḥadīth and added: "So I said: May Allāh rectify you, O Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān! I only hoped to hear good from you both." And this Dāwūd ibn Qays is al-Farrāʾ, a trustworthy narrator from the men of Muslim, so his narration is more authentic. However, I found another elevated path that strengthens it, narrated by Abū Nuʿaym in "al-Ḥilyah" (8/198) through the route of Ibrāhīm ibn Yūsuf al-Ḥaḍramī (originally: al-Miṣrī, which is a scribal error) who narrated to us from ʿImrān ibn ʿUyaynah from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Rawād from Nāfiʿ from Ibn ʿUmar who said: The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said: "A man should not sit with two men except with their permission if they are conversing privately." And he said: "It is rare from the ḥadīth of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, and ʿImrān, the brother of Sufyān, was uniquely narrated by Ibrāhīm ibn Yūsuf as mentioned by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Dāraqutnī."