A man from his people reported, "I was searching for the Prophet ﷺ but could not find him, so I sat down. Then a group of people came along, and he was among them, though I did not recognize him. He was reconciling between them. When he finished, some of them rose with him and said, 'Messenger of Allah.'When I saw this, I said, 'Upon you be peace, Messenger of Allah. Upon you be peace, Messenger of Allah. Upon you be peace, Messenger of Allah.'He said, 'Upon you be peace is the greeting for the dead. Upon you be peace is the greeting for the dead,' three times.Then he turned to me and said, 'When a man meets his Muslim brother, let him say, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.'Then the Prophet ﷺ returned my greeting, saying, 'And upon you, and the mercy of Allah. And upon you, and the mercy of Allah. And upon you, and the mercy of Allah.'"
حدثنا سويد أخبرنا عبد الله أخبرنا خالد الحذاء
عن رجل من قومه قال طلبت النبي ﷺ فلم أقدر عليه فجلست فإذا نفر هو فيهم ولا أعرفه وهو يصلح بينهم فلما فرغ قام معه بعضهم فقالوا يا رسول الله فلما رأيت ذلك قلت عليك السلام يا رسول الله عليك السلام يا رسول الله عليك السلام يا رسول الله قال إن عليك السلام تحية الميت إن عليك السلام تحية الميت ثلاثا ثم أقبل علي فقال إذا لقي الرجل أخاه المسلم فليقل السلام عليكم ورحمة الله ثم رد علي النبي ﷺ قال وعليك ورحمة الله وعليك ورحمة الله وعليك ورحمة الله
No references are available.
[Its chain of transmission is sahih] Nasai narrated it in Amal al-Yawm wal-Layla, no. 319, from the hadith of Khalid Haddan, in abbreviated form, and Abu Dawud, no. 4084, from the hadith of Abu Tamima with the same wording, his name being Tarif bin Mujalid, and Hafiz graded it sahih in Fath al-Bari, 5/11, and it has another route in Ibn Hibban, no. 866, and elsewhere.