"If I had acknowledged the elder (meaning Abū Quḥāfah), we would have honored him for Abū Bakr's sake. He said this to Abū Bakr." It was narrated by Imām Aḥmad (3/160): Muḥammad ibn Salamah al-Ḥarānī narrated to us from Hishām from Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn who said: Anas ibn Mālik was asked about the dyeing of the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam)? He said: "The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) did not have much gray hair, but Abū Bakr and ʿUmar after him dyed their hair with henna and katam. He said: Abū Bakr brought his father Abū Quḥāfah to the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) on the day of the conquest of Mecca, carrying him until he placed him before the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam). The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said to Abū Bakr (and mentioned it), and he embraced Islam, and his beard and head were as white as the thaghamah plant. The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said: Change them and avoid black." I said: This isnād is authentic according to the criteria of Muslim, and Hishām is Ibn Ḥassān al-Qurdūsī, a trustworthy person among the most reliable in Ibn Sīrīn. Ibn Ḥibbān authenticated it (1476) from Ibn Salamah, as did al-Ḥākim (3/244), and al-Dhahabī agreed with him. The ḥadīth has a corroborating narration from Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr regarding the story of Abū Quḥāfah without the phrase "and avoid black." It was narrated by Imām Aḥmad (6/349) through the path of Ibn Isḥāq who said: Yaḥyá ibn ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr narrated to me from his father from his grandmother Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr. I said: This isnād is good, and Ibn Ḥibbān authenticated it (1700) from this path. The story has another corroborating narration from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh with an addition. It was narrated by Muslim and other authors of the "Sunan," and it is included in "Takhrīj al-Ḥalāl wa-al-Ḥarām" under number (106)