and it was confirmed by al-Ḥāfiẓ in "al-Lisān." I say: it is a good ḥadīth; however, here it has been corroborated, so it is authentic. Al-Haythamī said in "Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid" (7/331): "Aḥmad narrated it, and its men are the men of the authentic [collections]." Al-Suyūṭī attributed the ḥadīth in "al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr" to Aḥmad only; however, it mistakenly has "al-Madīnah" instead of "al-Madar"! This is a scribe's error. Then know that its apparent meaning contradicts what is mentioned in the ḥadīth of al-Nawās ibn Samʿān regarding the story of Gog and Magog, and Allāh's destruction of them until the earth becomes foul from their decay, and in it: "Then Allāh will send upon them rain, which will not spare a house of clay or hair, and it will wash the earth until it leaves it like a mirror." It was narrated by Muslim and others, and its sources have been previously cited under numbers (481 and 1780). His saying: "nor hair" contradicts his saying in the ḥadīth of the translation: "except a house of hair"! Perhaps this occurs in two different times. And Allāh knows best. Furthermore, the ḥadīth is among the many ḥadīths that meet the criteria of the book "Mawārid al-Ẓamʾān" by al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Haythamī, yet it is not included in it. I have included it in my new books: "Ṣaḥīḥ Mawārid al-Ẓamʾān" and "Ḍaʿīf Mawārid al-Ẓamʾān," which are under publication. We ask Allāh, the Exalted, to facilitate their completion. *

- "Indeed, the people most severely tested are the prophets, then those closest to them, then those closest to them, then those closest to them." It was recorded by al-Nasāʾī in "al-Sunan al-Kubrā" (4/355/7496 and 379-380), al-Ḥākim (4/404), Aḥmad (6/369), and through his route, al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Mizzī in "al-Tahdhīb" (34/55),