Ahmad 6466

Its isnad is sahih. Uqba Abu Masud is Uqba bin Khalid bin Uqba bin Khalid Sakuni, with the sin vowelled as fatha and the kaf as damma, al-Majdar, with the meem vowelled as damma, the jeem as fatha, and the plain dal doubled and vowelled as fatha, ending in ra. He is reliable, one of the teachers of Ahmad, and the authors of the six books narrated from him. Ahmad and Uthman bin Shayba and others confirmed his reliability. Ibn Abu Hatim gave his biography in al-Jarh wal-Tadil 3/1/310, and Ibn Saad in al-Tabaqat 6:276. In the H copy it reads "al-Majlad" instead of "al-Majdar," and this is also found in a marginal copy of M, but it is a plain error, corrected from K and M and from al-Tahzib and al-Taqrib. Dhahabi likewise vowelled it correctly, as we have established, in al-Mushtabih 464. Similarly, Dulabi said in al-Kuna (2:113), "Abu Masud is Uqba bin Khalid Sakuni, and he is al-Majdar. Ahmad bin Hanbal narrated from him in his Musnad."This hadith was narrated by Abu Dawud, 2:334, from Ahmad bin Hanbal, with this same isnad. See also 5656.Al-qurh, with the qaf vowelled as damma, the ra doubled and vowelled as fatha, ending in a plain ha, is the plural of qarih. Munziri said in 2467, "A qarih among horses is one that has entered its fifth year." In a marginal copy of M it reads "al-qarih" in the singular.Al-ghayah is the extent of the course at which the race finishes.