Ahmad 7276

Its isnad is sahih. It is one of the narrations of the hadith before it. Imam Ahmad did not give its full wording here. It is among what Malik narrated outside the Muwatta, so the Muwatta version of it is not found in the Muwatta itself. Muslim narrated it (2:261) right after the preceding hadith, with two chains, one through Malik and one through Maamar, both from Zuhri, but he too did not give its wording, referring instead to what came before it. As for Maamar's narration, it will come at length at 7691, as we noted in the previous hadith. As for Malik's narration, I did not find it in the Musnad anywhere other than this place, so it is not given here in full.Ibn Saad narrated it in his Tabaqat (2/2/118) from Maen bin Isa from Malik, which is the same route through which Muslim narrated it from Malik. Bukhari narrated it (1:190-191) from Abdul-Aziz bin Abdullah Uwaysi from Malik, so we thought it best to give its full wording from Bukhari's narration, since its text is not established in the Musnad.Bukhari said, Abdul-Aziz bin Abdullah told us, he said, Malik told me, from Ibn Shihab, from Araj, from Abu Hurairah, who said,"People say, 'Abu Hurairah narrates so much!' Were it not for two verses in the Book of Allah, I would not have narrated a single hadith." Then he recited, "Indeed, those who conceal what We have sent down of clear proofs and guidance after We made it clear to the people in the Book, those are cursed by Allah and cursed by those who curse, except for those who repent, correct themselves, and make clear what they concealed, those I will accept their repentance, and I am the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful" [Baqarah 2:159–160]."Our brothers among the Muhajirin were kept busy by trading in the markets, and our brothers among the Ansar were kept busy working on their properties, while Abu Hurairah stayed close to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in exchange for a full stomach, so he was present for what they were not present for, and he memorized what they did not memorize."Ibn Saad's narration is similar to this, but its ending reads, "Abu Hurairah used to stay close to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in exchange for a full stomach, so he would hear what they did not hear, and memorize what they did not memorize."