and he used ambiguous transmission. Al-Rabīʿ ibn Ṣubayḥ had poor memory, and I fear he may have confused two ḥadīths, as Qatādah narrated it from Anas with the wording: "Allāh says: 'I am as My servant thinks of Me, and I am with him when he calls upon Me.'" It was recorded by Aḥmad (3/210, 277) with a chain that is authentic according to the criteria of Muslim. Then he recorded it (3/471, 4/106) from Ḥibbān Abū al-Naḍr from Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ in a marfūʿ form with it, except that he said in the second half: "So let him think of Me as he wishes." The other ḥadīth I referred to is the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah with the wording: "Allāh, the Exalted, says: 'I am as My servant thinks of Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me...'" The ḥadīth has been previously referenced in the ḥadīth before it, and this portion of it was recorded by al-Qaḍāʿī in his "Musnad" (folio 117/1).

- "He said to the soul: 'Come out.' It said: 'I will not come out except unwillingly.' (He said: 'Come out even if you are unwilling.')" It was narrated by al-Bukhārī in "al-Adab al-Mufrad" (219) and "al-Tārīkh" (2/1/251), and by al-Bazzār (783 - Kashf al-Astār), with the addition belonging to him, and by al-Bayhaqī in "al-Zuhd" (52/1-2) from al-Rabīʿ ibn Muslim from Muḥammad ibn Ziyād from Abū Hurayrah from the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) who said: and he mentioned it. I say: This is an authentic chain; its narrators are trustworthy according to the criteria of Muslim. Al-Bazzār said: "We do not know it except from Abū Hurayrah, and it was not narrated from him except by Muḥammad ibn Ziyād, and not from him except by al-Rabīʿ, and al-Rabīʿ is trustworthy and reliable."