One of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, known as Abu Abdullah, was visited by his companions while he was ill, and they found him weeping.They asked him, "What makes you weep? Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ not say to you, 'Trim your mustache, then keep up this practice until you meet me'?"He replied, "Yes, but I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, 'Allah took a handful with His right hand and another handful with the other hand, then said, "This one is for this, and this one is for this, and I do not care."' So I do not know which of the two handfuls I am in."
أن رجلا من أصحاب النبي ﷺ يقال له: أبو عبد الله دخل عليه أصحابه يعودنه وهو يبكي، فقالوا له: ما يبكيك؟ ألم يقل لك رسول الله ﷺ: خذ من شاربك، ثم أقره حتى تلقاني؟ قال: بلى، ولكني سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: إن الله قبض بيمينه قبضة، وأخرى باليد الأخرى، وقال: هذه لهذه، وهذه لهذه، ولا أبالي. فلا أدري في أي القبضتين أنا؟
Imam Ahmad narrated it (17593, 17594, 20668) through several routes from Hammad bin Salama, who said, "Saeed Jareeri informed us, from Abu Nadra," and he mentioned something similar. Saeed Jareeri, with the jim vowelled with a damma and the plain ra vowelled with a fatha, is Ibn Iyas Abu Masud, a trustworthy narrator relied upon by the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim). He became confused in his narration three years before his death, though his confusion was not severe. Abu Hatim said, "His memory changed before his death, so whoever wrote from him in earlier times, his narration is sound, and he is hasan al-hadith." Al-Jarh wal-Tadil (1/2–2).I say, among those who narrated from him before his confusion set in was Hammad bin Salama. Muslim recorded from him through the narration of Hammad bin Salama, in the Book of the Virtues of the Companions, chapter on the virtues of Uways Qarani (1968/4).As for the hadith of this chapter, Haythami mentioned it in Al-Majma (186/7–187) and said, "Ahmad narrated it, and its narrators are the narrators of the sahih."