The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "We are the last to come, yet we will be the foremost on the Day of Resurrection, even though every other nation..."Mura once narrated it as "even though" while Ibn Tawus combined both versions, saying that one of the two reported it as "even though" and the other as "even though every nation was given the Scripture before us, and we were given it after them. Then this day which Allah had prescribed upon them, they differed concerning it, but Allah guided us to it. So the people follow us in this regard. The Jews have the day after, and the Christians the day after that."
حدثنا سفيان عن أبي الزناد عن الأعرج
قال رسول الله ﷺ نحن الآخرون ونحن السابقون يوم القيامة بيد كل أمة وقال مرة بيد أن وجمعه ابن طاوس فقال قال أحدهما بيد أن وقال الآخر بايد كل أمة أوتيت الكتاب من قبلنا وأوتيناه من بعدهم ثم هذا اليوم الذي كتبه الله عليهم فاختلفوا فيه فهدانا الله له فالناس لنا فيه تبع فلليهود غد وللنصارى بعد غد
Its isnad is sahih. Part of its meaning has already appeared in brief form through another route, no. 7213, and we pointed to this there. As for this route, Muslim (1:234) narrated it from Amr Naqid from Sufyan bin Uyayna, with this isnad. Bukhari (2:292-294) narrated it from Abu Yaman from Shuayb from Abu Zinad, with the same wording.As for the narration of Ibn Tawus, to which Sufyan alluded in the course of the hadith, it will come at no. 7393, from Sufyan bin Uyayna from Ibn Tawus from his father from Abu Hurairah, and Abu Zinad from Araj from Abu Hurairah, reaching the Prophet ﷺ... At the end of it he said, one of them said, "bayda anna," while others said, "bayad." Muslim also narrated it from Ibn Abu Umar, "Sufyan related to us from Abu Zinad from Araj from Abu Hurairah, and Ibn Tawus from his father from Abu Hurairah," but he did not give its wording, instead referring back to the narration of Amr Naqid that preceded it.So the one speaking in the course of this hadith, saying "and Ibn Tawus combined..." is Sufyan bin Uyayna himself, as indicated by Muslim's narration. The narration of Ibn Tawus will also come at no. 8484, from Affan from Wahib from Abdullah bin Tawus from his father from Abu Hurairah, at greater length, but it does not mention the disagreement over the word "bayda" referred to here.I have not been able to determine who the two persons are whose narrations Ibn Tawus combined, in his statement, "one of them said... and the other said..." since what I have found attributed to Ibn Tawus is only his narration from his father, so I do not know who the other one is.Bayda, with the ba pronounced with a fatha, a silent ya, and the dal with a fatha, means "other than" (ghayr), and follows its pattern. There are three variant readings mentioned here, "bayda every nation," "bayda anna every nation," and "bayad anna," meaning "bayad anna every nation."As for the first reading, "bayda kulli" with "anna" omitted, I have not found anything like it among the other narrations I have seen. As for the second reading, "bayda anna kulli," it is the standard one, matching the rest of the narrations, though in some of them it is "bayda annahum" instead of "bayda anna kulli ummah." As for the third reading, "bayad kulli," with the addition of an alif in "bayda" between the ba and the ya, it is established in all three original manuscripts here, and likewise it is established in the coming narration at no. 7393, though it was not vowelled in the copies of the Musnad, while it has been vowelled in some references, as we shall explain in detail, Allah willing, in the tafsir of the word in both its forms, or both its spellings.Ibn Durayd said in Jamharat al-Lughah (202), "They say, 'I will not do that, bayda anni such and such,' meaning 'because I.'" Ibn Faris said in Maqayis al-Lughah (1:325-326), "As for their saying 'bayda,' it comes with the meaning of 'ghayr' (other than). One says, 'He did such and such, bayda annahu was such and such.' It occurs in a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, 'We are the last, yet the foremost on the Day of Resurrection, bayda annahum were given the Book before us, and we were given it after them.'" These are two explanations from among the oldest linguistic texts.Then Ibn Athir said in Nihayah, "Bayda means 'ghayr' (other than). From this comes the other hadith, 'bayda annahum were given the Book before us.' It has been said that its meaning is 'ala annahum' (given that they). It has come in some narrations as 'bayad annahum.' I have not found it in the language with this meaning. Some have said it is 'bi ayd,' meaning 'with strength,' so its meaning would be, 'We are the foremost to Paradise on the Day of Resurrection, with strength.'" And some said other things.Qadi Iyad erred in attributing this reading, "bayad," to Farsi alone, one of the narrators of Sahih Muslim, since he was not aware that it is established in the Musnad in two places, along with a clarification of the disagreement among the narrators over it, and that the one who reported this disagreement is Abdullah bin Tawus. So it is not a variation among the copies of Sahih Muslim, but rather a disagreement among early narrators from among the Successors, and so it stands as evidence both for the establishment of the linguistic usage and for the establishment of the narration itself.What appears to me is that it is a dialectal usage among some narrators, or among some tribes, in which the fatha on the ba is lengthened and given full voice until it becomes like an alif, or close to it, while the word remains "bayda" itself, needing no forced interpretation or contrivance.