Ahmad 6507

Its chain of transmission is sahih. Ismail is Ibn Ulaya. Aslam Ajli Rubai is a trustworthy tabii, deemed reliable by Ibn Main, Nasai, and others, and Bukhari gave his biography in al-Kabir 25/2/1. Bishr bin Shighaf al-Dabbi al-Basri is a trustworthy tabii, deemed reliable by Ibn Main, Ajli, and others, and Bukhari gave his biography in al-Kabir 76/2/1.Shighaf is pronounced with a fatha on both the shin and the ghayn, the ghayn unstressed, ending in a fa, and it is fully declinable. At first glance it might be mistaken by the observer as indeclinable, since it follows the pattern of Ruqash, Hudham, and Qutam, but the reason those and similar names are treated as indeclinable is the combination of being a proper name, feminine, and a deviation, because they are deviated forms of the pattern faila in their roots. The author of Lisan (8:195) transmits from Ibn Durayd that he said, the people of Hijaz treat Ruqash as indeclinable with a kasra in every case, and likewise every name on the pattern of fial with a fatha on the fa, deviated from faila, does not take the definite article and has no plural, such as Hudham, Qutam, and Ghulab. The people of Najd, however, treat it like a diptote noun, similar to Umar, saying "hadhihi Ruqashu" with the raised ending, which is the more regular analogy, since it is a proper name and the only factors present are deviation and feminine gender. Yet the poetic verses follow the dialect of the people of Hijaz.Then, after citing his evidence (p. 196), he completes Ibn Durayd's statement by saying, except when the name ends in a ra, such as Jaar, the name of the hyena, Hidar, the name of a star, Sifar, the name of a well, and Wabar, the name of a place, in which case they agree with the people of Hijaz in treating it as indeclinable with a kasra. See also Lisan 15:8 under the root shadham, and see Jam al-Jawami by Suyuti 16:1.As for this name Shighaf, it is a masculine proper name, so the reason for barring it from full declension does not apply. Furthermore, it is transferred from a common noun, namely al-shighaf, meaning the covering of the heart, a membrane beneath it like a veil, so it is not a deviated form of the pattern fail, and thus the other reason that would bar it from full declension among the people of Najd, or that would make the people of Hijaz treat it as indeclinable, does not apply either.The name Shighaf appears corrupted in manuscript H as Shifaf, with a fa instead of a ghayn, which is an error we have corrected based on manuscripts K and M and on the biographical and hadith reference works. Ibn Kathir transmitted it in his Tafsir, page 337, from this very passage. Hakim also narrated it, 4:560, saying, this is a hadith sahih in its chain of transmission, though the two of them (Bukhari and Muslim) did not narrate it, and Dhahabi concurred with him. Abu Dawud narrated it in abridged form, 4742 (4:378–379 of Awn al-Mabud), and Munziri, in 4575, also attributed it to Tirmidhi and Nasai.