It was recorded by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā in "Qaṣr al-Amal" (31-32/11). And Abū Nuʿaym from him; it was narrated by al-Rāmahurmuzī in "al-Amthāl" (170/74). And Abū Ghassān Mālik ibn Ismāʿīl; with al-Bayhaqī in "al-Zuhd" (190/457). This isnād is good, its men are trustworthy, the men of the two Shaykhs; except for ʿAlī ibn ʿAlī al-Rifāʿī, and there is slight criticism about him that does not lower his ḥadīth from the rank of ḥasan, as I verified in "Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl" (2/51-52). Therefore, al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī said in "Takhrīj al-Iḥyāʾ" (4/453): "It was recorded by Aḥmad, and Ibn Abī al-Dunyā in "Qaṣr al-Amal", and al-Rāmahurmuzī in "al-Amthāl"... and its isnād is ḥasan, and it was narrated by Ibn al-Mubārak in "al-Zuhd", and also by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā from the narration of Abū al-Mutawakkil as mursal." His student al-Haythamī said in "al-Majmaʿ" (10/255): "It was narrated by Aḥmad, and its men are the men of "al-Ṣaḥīḥ"; except for ʿAlī ibn ʿAlī al-Rifāʿī; and he is trustworthy." The mursal that al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī referred to: it was recorded by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā (31/10), and Ibn al-Mubārak in "al-Zuhd" (86/254), as well as Wakīʿ in "al-Zuhd" also (2/436/189) - these two said: ʿAlī ibn ʿAlī informed us from Abū al-Mutawakkil who said: The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) took three sticks, planted one in front of him, the other to his side, and the third he placed farther away and said... he mentioned something similar, and said: "... that is hope, which the son of Adam engages in, while death overtakes him before that." The wording is from Ibn al-Mubārak. The other two said: "... before his hope."