I was with my father in the company of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and there was a man speaking privately with him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ seemed to turn away from my father. When we left, my father said to me, "My son, did you not notice how your cousin turned away from me?"I said, "Father, there was a man with him speaking to him in private."So we returned to the Prophet ﷺ, and my father said, "Messenger of Allah, I said such and such to Abdullah, and he told me that there was a man with you speaking to you in private. Was there indeed someone with you?"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, "Did you see him, Abdullah?"I replied, "Yes."He said, "That was Jibreel, and he is the one who kept me occupied from you."
كنت مع أبي عند رسول الله ﷺ وعنده رجل يناجيه، فكان كالمعرض عن أبي، فخرجنا من عنده، فقال لي أبي: أي بني، ألم تر إلى ابن عمك كالمعرض عني؟ فقلت: يا أبت، إنه كان عنده رجل يناجيه، قال: فرجعنا إلى النبي ﷺ، فقال أبي: يا رسول الله، لقد قلت لعبد الله: كذا وكذا، فأخبرني أنه كان عندك رجل يناجيك، فهل كان عندك أحد؟ فقال رسول الله ﷺ: وهل رأيته يا عبد الله؟ قال: قلت: نعم، قال: فإن ذلك جبريل، وهو الذي شغلني عنك.
It was narrated by Abu Dawud Tayalisi (2831), Ahmad (2679), Abd bin Humayd (712), and Tabarani in Al-Kabir (10/236), all of them through Hammad bin Salama, from Ammar bin Abu Ammar, from Ibn Abbas, who related it. Its chain of transmission is sahih, and Ammar bin Abu Ammar is trustworthy, most scholars having affirmed his trustworthiness. Haythami said in Al-Majma (9/276), "Ahmad and Tabarani narrated it with chains whose narrators are the narrators of the sahih." Abdullah bin Ahmad also narrated it in his additions to Al-Fadail (1917) through Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad Darawardi, from Thawr bin Zayd, from Musa bin Maysara, from Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas, from his father, that the Prophet ﷺ said (meaning about Abbas), "Your son will not die until his eyesight goes and he is given knowledge." Its chain of transmission is hasan because of Darawardi, for he is hasan al-hadith.As for what Tirmidhi (3822) and Ahmad in Fadail al-Sahabah (1561) narrated, both through Sufyan (that is, Thawri), from Layth (that is, Ibn Abu Salim), from Abu Jahdam, from Ibn Abbas, that he saw Jibreel twice, and that the Prophet ﷺ prayed for him twice for wisdom, this is daif. Tirmidhi said, "This is a mursal hadith, and Abu Jahdam did not meet Ibn Abbas, his name being Musa bin Salim." Layth bin Abu Salim has been criticized.It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Abbas, "When Monday morning comes, come to me with your son, so that I may make a supplication for you both by which Allah will benefit you and your son." So he came in the morning, and we came with him, and he wrapped us in a cloak, then said, "O Allah, forgive Abbas and his children with a forgiveness both apparent and hidden, leaving no sin unforgiven. O Allah, protect him through his children." This was narrated by Tirmidhi (3762) from Ibrahim bin Saeed Jawhari, who said, Abdul-Wahhab bin Ata narrated to us, from Thawr bin Yazid, from Makhul, from Kurayb, from Ibn Abbas, who related it. Tirmidhi said, hasan, gharib, we do not know it except through this route.I say, his statement "gharib, we do not know it except through this route" is sahih, but it is not hasan, for it contains Abdul-Wahhab bin Ata, who is Khaffaf. Abu Zura was asked about him and said, "He narrated two hadiths from Thawr bin Yazid that are not from Thawr's hadith." These two hadiths were mentioned to Yahya bin Main, and he said, "The report was not mentioned in either of them." Al-Jarh wal-Tadil (6/72). Bukhari said, "He used to conceal defects in his narration from Thawr, and attributed odd hadiths to various people." Salih bin Muhammad Asadi said, "They criticized Khaffaf for a hadith he narrated from Thawr bin Yazid, from Makhul, from Kurayb, from Ibn Abbas, from the Prophet ﷺ, a hadith about the merit of Abbas, and they criticized nothing else of his. Yahya bin Main used to say, 'This is fabricated.' Abdul-Wahhab did not say in it, 'Thawr narrated to us,' and perhaps he concealed a defect in it, though he is trustworthy." See Tahdhib al-Tahdhib (6/452–453).Among the accounts of Ibn Abbas is what Ibn Masud mentioned, who said, "If Ibn Abbas had reached our age, no man among us could have competed with him. What an excellent interpreter of the Quran Ibn Abbas is." This was narrated by Ahmad in Fadail al-Sahabah (1562), and Ibn Saad in his Tabaqat (2/366), both from Amash, from Abu Duha Muslim bin Sabih, from Masruq, who said, Abdullah said, and related it. Its chain of transmission is sahih.Abdullah bin Abbas died in Taif in the year 68 AH, and Muhammad bin Hanafiya led the funeral prayer over him, saying, "Today the scholar of this nation has died."