Ahmad 6509

Its chain of transmission is sahih, despite the apparent obscurity of the tabii who narrated it, as we shall mention, Allah willing. Mirqat Mafatih, vol. 2, page 334. Ibn Kathir cited it in the tafsir, 5:334, from this very passage. Haythami mentioned it in Majma al-Zawaid, 10:222, saying at the beginning, "From Amr bin Mura, who said, an elderly man known by the kunya Abu Yazid told me, I was sitting with Abdullah bin Amr and Abdullah bin Umar," and he related it at greater length than here. Then he said, "Tabarani related it in al-Kabir, and this is his wording, and also in al-Awsat with similar wording." He then mentioned that Ahmad related it in abridged form. Then he said, "Tabarani named the man, and he is Khaythama bin Abdul-Rahman. On this basis, the men of Ahmad's chain and one of Tabarani's chains in al-Kabir are the men of sahih."It will also come later in the Musnad at 6839 with the man left unnamed as here, and it will also come at 6986 and 7085 through the narration of Amash from Amr bin Mura from Abu Yazid, without mentioning his name. Munziri also cited it in Targhib wal-Tarhib, 1:31, in abridged form, saying, "Tabarani related it in al-Kabir through several chains, one of which is sahih, and Bayhaqi related it as well."Khaythama bin Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Sabra al-Jufi al-Kufi was a senior tabii and reliable. Bukhari gave his biography in al-Kabir, 2/1/197, and it is related of him that he met Ali bin Abu Talib. Ibn Saad also gave his biography in al-Tabaqat, 6:200-201, mentioning that he heard directly from Ibn Umar, and that he met thirteen men from among the companions. However, I did not find his kunya mentioned in any of the biographical references, so we learn from this passage, by gathering the various narrations together, that he was known by the kunya Abu Yazid.His saying, "May Allah make him heard of by his creatures," Ibn Athir said in al-Nihaya, "And in one version, 'his creatures' hearers.' It is said, 'I made the man heard of,' meaning I made him notorious and exposed him. 'Sami' (hearer) is an active participle from 'sami-a' (to hear), and 'asami' is the plural of 'asma', which is itself a plural of paucity of 'sam'. And one says, 'so-and-so made his knowledge heard,' meaning he displayed it so that it would be heard. So whoever transmits it as 'sami khalqihi' with the nominative case makes it a description of Allah, Most High, meaning, may Allah make people hear of him through the one who hears of his creatures. And whoever transmits it as 'asami' means that Allah will make the hearing faculties of his creatures hear of him on the Day of Judgment. It has also been said that it means, whoever makes himself heard among people through his knowledge, Allah will make him heard and will show him its reward without actually giving it to him. It has also been said that whoever intends people through his knowledge, Allah will make people hear of him, and that will be his reward. It has also been said that it means that whoever performs a righteous deed in secret and then displays it so that people will hear of it and praise him for it, Allah will make it heard of and will expose his true purpose to people, showing that his deed was not sincere. It has also been said that it means that whoever attributes to himself a righteous deed he did not do and claims a good deed he did not perform, Allah will disgrace him and expose his lie."This explanation that Ibn Athir gave regarding the version with "sami" in the nominative, I believe he took from Azhari, for in Lisan al-Arab, Azhari said, "Whoever transmits it as 'sami khalqihi' has it in the nominative case, meaning, may Allah make him heard of by the one who hears of his creatures, that is, expose him. And whoever transmits it as 'asami khalqihi' with the accusative, has broken down 'sama' into 'asma', then broken down 'asma' into 'asami', since he treated 'sam' (hearing) as a noun rather than a verbal noun, for if it were a verbal noun it could not be pluralized."As for Zamakhshari in al-Faiq, 1:611, he gave the version as "asami" with the accusative, then said, "It is also transmitted as 'sami khalqihi' with the nominative," and then explained it along the same lines, following Azhari's approach, as I judge. I think he did not find this forced interpretation of the nominative version palatable, for he said, "And if it were transmitted with the accusative, the meaning would be, may Allah make him heard of by whoever among his creatures has hearing." This is a fine and precise point on his part.The version with the accusative has also been established, for the word was marked in K as "sami," with the ain vowelled with a fatha and without a hamza at the beginning. And the manuscript L, whose vowelling I trust as far as I have traced it, confirms this. Praise be to Allah.A note, the word "sami" was written in Ibn Kathir's tafsir and in al-Targhib as "al-sami," which is an error on the part of the copyist or the printer, as is evident.His saying, "so the eyes of Abdullah flowed with tears," with the ra vowelled with a fatha, meaning his tears flowed.