Zayd bin Thabit came out from Marwan's place at midday, so we said, "Marwan must have summoned him at this hour only to ask him about something."We asked him about it, and he said, "Yes, he asked us about things we had heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, 'May Allah grant prosperity to a man who hears a hadith from us, memorizes it, and conveys it to others. Many a bearer of knowledge carries it to one more learned than himself, and many a bearer of knowledge is not himself a person of deep understanding.'"
خرج زيد بن ثابت من عند مروان نصف النهار، فقلنا: ما بعث إليه في هذه الساعة إلا لشيء سأله عنه. فسألناه فقال: نعم، سألنا عن أشياء سمعناها من رسول الله ﷺ، سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: نصر الله امرءا سمع منا حديثا فحفظه حتى يبلغه غيره، فرب حامل فقه إلى من هو أفقه منه، ورب حامل فقه ليس بفقيه.
Tirmidhi (2656) narrated it, and the wording is his, and Abu Dawud (3660) narrated it as well, both through the route of Shubah, who said, Umar bin Sulayman, a descendant of Umar bin Khattab, informed us, he said, I heard Abdul-Rahman bin Aban bin Uthman narrating from his father, and he mentioned the hadith. Abu Dawud did not mention the story.Ibn Majah (230) narrated it through another route, with additions beyond both of them, without the story. Its chain of transmission contains Layth bin Abu Salim, about whom there is criticism. However, he narrated in Kitab Zuhd (4105) through the route of Shubah, with his chain of transmission, another hadith that will come in its proper place.Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (67) through this route, and added in it, "There are three things concerning which the heart of a Muslim never harbors malice, sincerity of deeds for Allah, giving sincere counsel to those in charge of affairs, and adherence to the community, for their call surrounds them from behind."Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan hadith." I say, rather it is sahih, and the reason for Tirmidhi grading it hasan rather than sahih is not clear to me.