The Prophet ﷺ said, "Allah has not sent any prophet nor appointed any successor except that he had two close circles of advisors. One circle commands him to do good and urges him toward it, and another circle commands him to do evil and urges him toward it. The protected one is he whom Allah Most High protects."Sulayman reported from Yahya, who said Ibn Shihab informed me of this. It was also narrated from Ibn Abu Atiq and Musa from Ibn Shihab with the like of it.Shuayb said from Zuhri, Abu Salama related to me from Abu Saeed as his own statement.Uzai and Muawiya bin Salam said, Zuhri related to me, Abu Salama related to me from Abu Hurairah from the Prophet ﷺ.Ibn Abu Husayn and Saeed bin Ziyad reported from Abu Salama from Abu Saeed as his own statement.Ubaydullah bin Abu Jafar said, Safwan related to me from Abu Salama from Abu Ayub, who said, "I heard the Prophet ﷺ."
حدثنا أصبغ أخبرنا ابن وهب أخبرني يونس عن ابن شهاب عن أبي سلمة
عن النبي ﷺ قال ما بعث الله من نبي ولا استخلف من خليفة إلا كانت له بطانتان بطانة تأمره بالمعروف وتحضه عليه وبطانة تأمره بالشر وتحضه عليه فالمعصوم من عصم الله تعالى وقال سليمان عن يحيى أخبرني ابن شهاب بهذا وعن ابن أبي عتيق وموسى عن ابن شهاب مثله وقال شعيب عن الزهري حدثني أبو سلمة عن أبي سعيد قوله وقال الأوزاعي ومعاوية بن سلام حدثني الزهري حدثني أبو سلمة عن أبي هريرة عن النبي ﷺ وقال ابن أبي حسين وسعيد بن زياد عن أبي سلمة عن أبي سعيد قوله وقال عبيد الله بن أبي جعفر حدثني صفوان عن أبي سلمة عن أبي أيوب قال سمعت النبي ﷺ
Bukhari related the hadith of Yunus, from Zuhri, from Abu Salama, from Abu Saeed, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, "Allah never sent a prophet without his having two inner circles."He said, Sulayman bin Bilal narrated it from Yahya, and Ibn Abu Atiq, and Musa, from Zuhri, with this same wording, but Shuayb related it from Zuhri as a stopped report. Uzai and Muawiya bin Salam said, from Zuhri, from Abu Salama, from Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family. Ibn Abu Husayn and Saeed bin Ziyad said, from Abu Salama, from Abu Saeed, as a stopped report. And Ubaydullah bin Abu Jafar said, from Safwan bin Sulaym, from Abu Salama, from Abu Ayub, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family.
Hafiz said in Fath al-Bari, volume 13, page 192, printing TS, Kirmani said, "What Bukhari has established is that the hadith is marfu, narrated by three individuals from among the companions." End of quote.What he mentioned here is only in terms of the outward form of the case. But according to the method of the hadith scholars, it is a single hadith, and there is a difference regarding the successor narrator as to which companion he heard it from. As for Safwan, he stated definitively that it is from Abu Ayub. As for Zuhri, there is disagreement as to whether it is Abu Saeed or Abu Hurairah.As for the disagreement over whether it is marfu or mawquf, this has no bearing, because something like this would not be said based on personal reasoning. So the version reported as mawquf in wording is marfu in ruling. What strengthens the view that it is from Abu Saeed is that Ibn Abu Husayn and Saeed bin Ziyad agree with those who said it is narrated from Zuhri, from Abu Salama, from Abu Saeed.If we are left with only Zuhri and Safwan, then Zuhri is more precise in memory than Safwan by several degrees. From this, the strength of Bukhari's insight becomes apparent in his indication favoring the route through Abu Saeed. That is why he presented it as a connected chain and brought the rest in the form of a suspended attribution, indicating that the disagreement mentioned does not undermine the soundness of the hadith, whether according to the method of preference that I have explained, or on the possibility that the hadith was known to Abu Salama through all three routes. Even so, the route through Abu Saeed remains the stronger one.And Allah knows best.