and there is supporting evidence for the ḥadīth from the narration of Yaḥyá ibn Saʿīd from ʿUbāyah ibn Rifāʿah from his grandfather Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj who said: and he mentioned it. It was recorded by Aḥmad (3/465). Its isnād is authentic according to the criteria of al-Shaykhayn, and this Yaḥyá ibn Saʿīd is Ibn Ḥayyān al-Tamīmī, a trustworthy narrator relied upon by al-Shaykhayn, and he is different from the previously mentioned al-Anṣārī.

"O Abū Dharr! Two angels came to me while I was at some part of the plain of Mecca. One of them descended to the ground, and the other was between the sky and the earth. One of them said to his companion: Is it him? He said: Yes. He said: Weigh him against a man, so I was weighed against him, and I outweighed him. Then he said: Weigh him against ten, so I was weighed against them, and I outweighed them. Then he said: Weigh him against a hundred, so I was weighed against them, and I outweighed them. Then he said: Weigh him against a thousand, so I was weighed against them, and I outweighed them, as if I see them scattering around me from the lightness of the scale. He said: One of them said to his companion: If you weigh him against a nation, he would outweigh it." It was recorded by al-Dārimī (1/9): ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿImrān narrated to us, Abū Dāwūd narrated to us, Jaʿfar ibn ʿUthmān al-Qurashī narrated from ʿUthmān ibn ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr from his father from Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī who said: I said: O Messenger of Allāh! How did you know that you were a prophet when you were first informed? He said: O Abū Dharr, two angels came to me... etc. This isnād is good; all its narrators are trustworthy and well-known. There is some discussion about Jaʿfar ibn ʿUthmān—who is the son of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān—but it does not harm, if Allāh wills. Abū Ḥātim has declared him trustworthy, and Abū Dāwūd in the isnād is al-Ṭayālisī, and through his route, it was also narrated by Ibn ʿAsākir as in "al-Bidāyah" (2/276) and al-ʿUqaylī as in "al-Mīzān" (1/190)