I came as part of a delegation to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, one of seven, or one of nine. We entered upon him and said, "Messenger of Allah, we have come to visit you, so pray to Allah for good on our behalf."He gave instructions concerning us, or ordered that we be given some dates. Conditions in those days were modest. We stayed there for several days, during which we attended the Friday prayer with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He stood leaning on a staff, or a bow, and praised Allah and glorified Him with brief, gracious, blessed words. Then he said, "People, you will not be able, or you will not do, everything you have been commanded. But aim for what is right and rejoice in good news."
وفدت إلى رسول الله ﷺ سابع سبعة، أو تاسع تسعة، فدخلنا عليه فقلنا: يا رسول الله! زرناك فادع الله لنا بخير، فأمر بنا، أو أمر لنا بشيء من التمر، والشأن إذ ذاك دون، فأقمنا بها أياما شهدنا فيها الجمعة مع رسول الله ﷺ، فقام متوكئا على عصا، أو قوس، فحمد الله وأثنى عليه، كلمات خفيفات طيبات مباركات ثم قال: أيها الناس! إنكم لن تطيقوا، أو لن تفعلوا كل ما أمرتم به، ولكن سددوا وأبشروا.
Abu Dawud (1096) narrated it from Saeed bin Mansur, from Shihab bin Kharash, who said, "Ashath bin Zurayq Taifi narrated to me, saying, I sat with a man who had companionship with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, called Hakam bin Hizn Kulafi, and he began narrating to us..." and he mentioned the hadith. Its chain is hasan on account of Shihab bin Kharash, for there is disagreement about him. Ibn Mubarak and several others, such as Abu Zura, Abu Hatim, Ahmad, and Ibn Main, declared him trustworthy, but Ibn Hibban criticized him, saying, "He was a righteous man, but he was among those who erred frequently, to the point that he fell outside the bounds of being cited as proof, except in the way of corroboration." Ibn Adi said, "Some of his narrations contain things that are objectionable."This hadith was graded sahih by Ibn Khuzayma, who reported it (1452) through the route of Shihab bin Kharash. Ibn Mulaqqin, in al-Badr (4/633), transmitted that Ibn Sakan graded it sahih, and said, "Abu Dawud narrated it in his Sunan and did not grade it daif, so it is hasan according to him." That is the end of his statement. Ibn Hajar and others also graded it hasan. So it appears that Shihab bin Kharash, though there is disagreement about him, is regarded by most critics as one whose hadith is hasan, and he did not err in this hadith.