My beloved friend ﷺ instructed me to do three things, to fast three days of every month, to perform the witr prayer before sleeping, and to pray the forenoon prayer, for it is the prayer of those who turn often to Allah.
حدثنا أبو العباس محمد بن السماك حدثنا العوام بن حوشب حدثني من
أوصاني خليلي ﷺ بصوم ثلاثة أيام من كل شهر وبالوتر قبل النوم وبصلاة الضحى فإنها صلاة الأوابين
Its chain is sahih, despite the ambiguity in it regarding the identity of the follower, though he has in fact been identified.Abu Abbas Muhammad bin Simak, we previously established that he is trustworthy at 3676, and we add here that Ibn Abu Hatim also gave his biography at 290/2/3, as did the Hafiz in Lisan Mizan at 204:5.Awwam, with a doubled waw, bin Hawshab, with a fatha on the plain ha and a saakin waw, we previously established his reliability at 1228 and 5468, and we add here that Bukhari also gave his biography in Saghir at 159, as did Ibn Abu Hatim at 22/2/3 and Ibn Saad at 60/2/7.The hadith will come again at 10566, from Yazid bin Harun, from Awwam, "Sulayman bin Abu Sulayman told us that he heard Abu Hurairah..." Darimi likewise narrated it at 2:18–19 from Yazid bin Harun, but did not mention at its end, "for it is the prayer of those who often turn back to Allah." Bukhari likewise narrated it in Kabir at 16/2/2, in the biography of Sulayman bin Abu Sulayman, the freedman of Ibn Abbas, with some abridgment. He narrated it from Muhammad bin Ubayd, that is, Tanafisi, who heard Awwam, from Sulayman, a freedman of Banu Hashim, who heard Abu Hurairah...These are sahih chains, and this hadith is an abridged version of the one before it. We also referred to it at 7138.Awwabin is the plural of awwab, meaning one who frequently turns back to Allah Almighty in repentance.