Ahmad 1992

Its isnad is sahih. Safwan bin Salim Madani was a trustworthy, devout worshipper, and was among the teachers of Malik and Layth. The hadith appears in the tafsir of Ibn Kathir, 7:454, citing the Musnad, and it is in Majma al-Zawaid, 7:105, where it is also attributed to Tabarani in al-Kabir and al-Awsat, and it says, "The men of Ahmad's chain for the marfu hadith are the men of the Sahih."As for the wording "or a remnant of knowledge," this is how it is recorded in the Musnad and in Ibn Kathir. The well-known reading, that of the fourteen canonical reciters and others, is "atharatan" with an alif. In Irab al-Quran by Ukbari, 2:125, it says, "or atharatan," with an alif, and "athuratan" or "athratan," with the tha having either a fatha or a sukun, meaning what is transmitted, that is, what is reported.In the tafsir al-Bahr by Abu Hayan, 55, it states that it was read as "athratan" without an alif and with a fatha on the tha by Ali and Ibn Abbas (though there is disagreement reported about them), as well as by Zayd bin Ali, Ikrima, Qatada, Hasan, Sulami, Amash, and Amr bin Maymun. It also states that it was read with a sukun on the tha by Ali, Sulami, and Qatada as well.In Lisan al-Arab it says, "It has been read as 'or athrahu min ilm' and 'athrahu min ilm,' and also 'atharatan,' the last of which is the most prevalent." Zajjaj said, "Atharatan carries the meaning of a sign, and it may also carry the meaning of a remainder of knowledge, and it may also carry the meaning of what is transmitted from knowledge. It is also said to mean something handed down from the books of earlier peoples. So whoever reads it as 'atharatan' takes it as a verbal noun like 'samaha,' and whoever reads it as 'athuratan' has formed it on the pattern of 'athar,' just as one says 'qutra,' and whoever reads it as 'athratan' seems to intend something like 'khatfa' or 'rajfa.'"