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= Ashwaʿ. Al-Ḥākim indeed cited in *al-Mustadrak* 4/224, on the authority of Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ — after he had related this ḥadīth through his chain from Abū Isḥāq, from him — that he (Qays) said: I said to Abū Isḥāq: Did you hear it from Shurayḥ? He said: Ibn Ashwaʿ narrated it to me from him. Al-Dāraquṭnī also cited this in *al-ʿIlal* 3/239, and he likewise mentioned that al-Jarrāḥ ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk had related it from Abū Isḥāq, from Saʿīd ibn Ashwaʿ, from Shurayḥ ibn al-Nuʿmān, from ʿAlī, raised to the Prophet (marfūʿan). I say: Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr ibn Ashwaʿ is trustworthy (thiqah), while Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ is disputed, with the preponderant view being his weakening (tadʿīf); however, his ḥadīth is suitable for corroboration (mutābaʿāt) and supporting evidence (shawāhid). As for al-Jarrāḥ ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he is truthful (ṣadūq) with good ḥadīth. Thus, with the convergence of the two chains, the ḥadīth becomes good (ḥasan). It is in *al-Sunan al-Kubrā* under number (4446).

Al-Thawrī related it from Ibn Ashwaʿ, from Shurayḥ, from ʿAlī, as a stopped report (mawqūfan), as al-Dāraquṭnī mentioned in *al-ʿIlal* 3/239, and he said: It is likely that the correct view is that of al-Thawrī, and God knows best.

Likewise, al-Bukhārī cited it in *al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr* 4/230 via the chain of Isrāʾīl, from Abū Isḥāq, from Shurayḥ ibn al-Nuʿmān, from him, raised to the Prophet (marfūʿan), and he said: Its raising (rafʿuhu) is not confirmed. Then he cited it via the chain of Abū Nuʿaym and Wakīʿ from Sufyān al-Thawrī, from Saʿīd ibn Ashwaʿ, who said: I heard Shurayḥ ibn al-Nuʿmān saying: No muqābalah (animal with a defect in the front of its eye), no mudābarah (animal with a defect in the back of its eye), no sharqāʾ (animal with a slit ear), [but rather] sound of eye and ear.

Aḥmad transmitted it (1061) via the chain of ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ, and (1061), and al-Tirmidhī (1498) via the chain of Isrāʾīl ibn Yūnus ibn Abī Isḥāq, and al-Tirmidhī (1498) via the chain of Sharīk al-Nakhaʿī — all three of them from Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī, with this chain. Al-Tirmidhī said: A ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ ḥadīth. Likewise, al-Ḥākim declared it ṣaḥīḥ in 4/224, and al-Dhahabī agreed with him.

It will follow in the next three reports via chains from Abū Isḥāq, from him, and in the last two reports there is no mention of his saying: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, commanded us to examine the eye and the ear. This will come alone in report (4376) via the chain of Ḥujayyah ibn ʿAdī, from ʿAlī, from him. Its chain is ḥasan.

Al-Sindī said: His saying: "that we examine the eye and the ear" — that is, we investigate them and reflect upon their condition, lest there be a defect in them. Al-Suyūṭī said in his gloss on al-Tirmidhī: There is disagreement over what is meant by it — whether it is from reflection and looking, from their saying: ishtarafa, meaning: he looked from a high place, for that is more effective for looking and reflecting; or whether it is the seeking of the more noble (al-ashraf), meaning that there should be no deficiency in its eye or ear. And it was said: what is meant is the two aforementioned limbs, because it indicates that it is sound in its kind. Al-Jawharī said: an ear that is sharqāʾ, that is, long, =