the ḥadīth, and that these individuals are unanimous in following the predecessors in believing in the true attributes of the Divine that are befitting to Him: affirmation without likening, and transcendence without negation: "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing" (Sūrah al-Shūrā, 11). And know that the doubt mentioned in the ḥadīth—between laughter and amazement—does not harm their authenticity, because each of them has been mentioned in numerous ḥadīths in various contexts in the books of sunnah, especially in the books of tawḥīd and creed, such as "al-Sunnah" by Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim, "al-Tawḥīd" by Ibn Khuzaymah, and "al-Sharīʿah" by al-Ājurī. I have included some of them in "Ẓilāl al-Jannah" (569-573), "al-Ṣaḥīḥah" (755, 1074, and 3129), and "Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd" (2401) among others.

(There are no two men who love each other for the sake of Allāh in secret, except that the one who loves the other more is more beloved to Allāh). It was recorded by al-Ṭabarānī in "al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ" (2/21/2/5412) (6/134/5275-ṭ): Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Barāʾ narrated to us, saying: al-Muʿāfá ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, saying: Mūsá ibn Aʿyan narrated from Jaʿfar ibn Burqān from Muḥammad ibn Sūqah from Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Kurayz—who was a companion of Umm al-Dardāʾ—who raised the ḥadīth to Umm al-Dardāʾ, who raised it to Abū al-Dardāʾ, who raised it... and he mentioned it. And he said: "No one narrated it from Jaʿfar ibn Burqān except Mūsá ibn Aʿyan." I said: Both of them are trustworthy from the narrators of "al-Ṣaḥīḥ," as are the rest of the narrators, who are from the narrators of "al-Tahdhīb," except for Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Barāʾ, who is among the trustworthy shaykhs of al-Ṭabarānī. And al-Mundhirī said in "al-Targhīb" (4/46):