the trustworthy ones, and Abū Zurʿah al-Dimashqī mentioned him in the highest class following the Companions. al-ʿAjlī said: "A trustworthy follower, there was none better than him in his time in Damascus." Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him in "al-Thiqāt." al-Ḥāfiẓ said in "al-Taqrīb": "It is said his name is Akhḍar, and it is also said al-Nuʿmān, a trustworthy person from the third class." I say: After this, the statement of Ibn Ḥazm about him (8/196) cannot be accepted: "He is unknown," and he criticized the ḥadīth because of him, for he has no predecessor in this, and these scholars have deemed him trustworthy. For this reason, al-Ḥāfiẓ said in "al-Fatḥ" (9/82) after attributing it to Aḥmad and Abū Yaʿlá: "Its chain is strong."

"This is my ablution and the ablution of the prophets before me." Narrated by Ibn Shāhīn in "al-Targhīb" (262/1-2) from Muḥammad ibn Muṣṭafá, who informed us that Ibn Abī Fudayk said: Ṭalḥah ibn Yaḥyá narrated to me from Anas ibn Mālik who said: "The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) called for water for ablution, washed his face once, his hands once, and his feet once, and said: This is an ablution by which Allāh does not accept the prayer except with it. Then he called for water for ablution and performed ablution twice each, and said: This is an ablution by which Allāh doubles the reward for the one who performs it. Then he called for water for ablution and performed ablution three times, and said: This is the ablution of your Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) and the prophets before him, or he said: This... " and he mentioned it. I say: This chain of narrators is trustworthy, though there is some disagreement about some of them, but it is disconnected, as Ṭalḥah ibn Yaḥyá, who is the son of al-Nuʿmān ibn Abī ʿAyyāsh al-Zurqī, is not recorded to have narrated from any of the Companions, nor even from the Followers. The ḥadīth was mentioned by al-Ḥāfiẓ in "al-Talkhīṣ" (p. 30) from the narration of Ibn al-Sakan in