I said: This is a good chain of narration as the ḥāfiẓ said in "al-Gharāʾib al-Multaqaṭah," and it was affirmed by the ḥāfiẓ al-Sakhāwī in "al-Maqāṣid al-Ḥasanah" (p. 138). The last part of it has many supporting narrations mentioned in "al-Maqāṣid," and some of them have been previously extracted along with the preceding sentence in a similar manner under number (401). (Note): Some imams have become accustomed to instructing the worshippers, when they line up for prayer, with some of what is mentioned in this ḥadīth, such as saying: "Pray as if it is your farewell prayer." I see no harm in doing so occasionally, but making it a regular practice is an innovation and a bidʿah.

- "He used to break his fast with fresh dates before praying; if there were no fresh dates, then with dried dates; and if there were none, then with sips of water." It was narrated by Imām Aḥmad and others among the authors of the Sunan with a good chain from Anas ibn Mālik (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu). It was deemed good by al-Tirmidhī, and authenticated by al-Ḥākim, al-Dhahabī, and al-Ḍiyāʾ in "al-Mukhtārah." I have detailed its extraction in "al-Irwāʾ" (4/45-51) and "Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd" (2040). The purpose of mentioning the ḥadīth with a brief extraction is to remind of this sunnah that most fasting people neglect, especially in public invitations where delicious food and drink are prepared, yet fresh dates or at least dried dates are not mentioned. More objectionable is their neglect of breaking the fast with sips of water! Blessed are those who are among *"those who listen to the word and follow the best of it; those are the ones Allāh has guided, and those are people of understanding"* (al-Zumar: 18).