The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "If a lead ball like this," and he pointed to something the size of a skull, "were sent down from the sky to the earth, a distance of five hundred years' travel, it would reach the earth before nightfall. But if it were sent down from the top of the chain, it would travel for forty autumns, night and day, before reaching its base or bottom."
قال رسول الله ﷺ: لو أن رصاصة مثل هذه، وأشار إلى مثل جمجمة، أرسلت من السماء إلى الأرض، وهي مسيرة خمسمائة سنة، لبلغت الأرض قبل الليل، ولو أنها أرسلت من رأس السلسلة لسارت أربعين خريفا، الليل والنهار، قبل أن تبلغ أصلها، أو قعرها.
Tirmidhi (2588), Ahmad (6856), and Hakim (2/438–439) narrated it in abbreviated form, all through routes going back to Abdullah bin Yazid Muqri, who said, "Saeed bin Yazid informed us, from Abu Samh, from Isa bin Hilal Sadafi, from Abdullah bin Amr," who then narrated it as already mentioned. Hakim added, "And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited the verses."Its chain of transmission is hasan because of Abu Samh, who is Darraj bin Saman, for his hadith is hasan except in his narration from Abu Haytham, and this narration is not one of those.Tirmidhi said, "This hadith's chain of transmission is hasan," and in one copy, "hasan sahih." Hakim said, "This is a hadith with a sahih chain of transmission."