The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, with the same chain of narration, "The likeness of the prophets is that of a man who put up a building and made it fine, complete, and beautiful, so that people began to walk around it saying, 'We have never seen a building finer than this, except for this one gap.' And I am that gap."Sufyan was asked, "Who related this?"He replied, "Abu Zinad, from Araj, from Abu Hurairah."
وبإسناده ومثل الأنبياء كمثل رجل بنى بنيانا فأحسنه وأكمله وأجمله فجعل الناس يطيفون به يقولون ما رأينا بنيانا أحسن من هذا إلا هذه الثلمة فأنا تلك الثلمة وقيل لسفيان من ذكر هذه قال أبو الزناد عن الأعرج عن أبي هريرة
[Shakir: 7318(B)] This is the third hadith among them. Muslim narrated it in 2:206, from Amr Naqid, from Sufyan bin Uyayna, with this chain. But in his version it begins, "My example and the example of the prophets," adding the phrase "my example" at the start. It also has "the brick" instead of "the gap" in both places. He then narrated it in 2:206-207 from the report of Hammam bin Munabbih from Abu Hurairah, and from the report of Abu Salih from Abu Hurairah, in similar wording. Bukhari narrated it in 6:408 from the report of Abu Salih.His saying "yatifun" (they circle around) comes from the quadriliteral form. It is said, "tafa bi'l-qawm" and "alayhim," "tawfan," "tawafan," "mutafan," and "atafa," meaning "he went around," exactly as stated in Lisan al-Arab.The word "thulmah," with damma on the tha (the three-dotted letter) and sukun on the lam, means a gap or breach in a wall or elsewhere.