Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) reports from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in a marfu‘ (attributed to the Prophet) narration that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The example of a good companion is like that of a perfume seller; even if he does not give you any perfume as a gift, its fragrance will surely reach you. And the example of a bad companion is like that of a blacksmith who blows the bellows; even if he does not burn you with the sparks of his fire, his foul-smelling air will surely reach you.” This hadith has also been narrated by Ahmad bin Amr bin Abdul Khaliq al-Bazzar in “Musnad Abi Musa” through the chain of Khallad bin Aslam Marwazi from Nadr bin Shumail from ‘Awf from Qasamah bin Zuhair from Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The example of a good companion is like that of a perfume seller; he will either give you some perfume as a gift, or you will get fragrance from his clothes. And the example of a bad companion is like that of a blacksmith; even if he does not burn your clothes, he will surely give you a foul smell, or his smoke will continue to trouble you.” Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Amr said: And this hadith has also been narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) in a mawquf (stopped at the Companion) form, and we do not know of anyone besides Nadr bin Shumail who has narrated it as marfu‘. This (Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Amr) is Bazzar’s error, because Yahya bin Ma‘in has narrated it as marfu‘ through the chain of Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah from Burayd bin Abi Burdah from Abi Burdah from Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him). And Yahya bin Ma‘in is a greater scholar than Bazzar, while Sufyan bin ‘Uyaynah is an Imam in hadith.
Hadith Referenceمسند الشهاب / 1377
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:صحيح
Hadith Takhrij«صحيح ، وأخرجه البخاري فى «صحيحه» برقم: 5534 ، و مسلم : 2628 ، وأبو داود فى «سننه» برقم: 1684، والترمذي فى «جامعه» برقم: 1928، والحميدي فى «مسنده» برقم: 770 ، وبزار : 3027 ، وأحمد فى «مسنده» برقم: 19821، وتاريخ ابن معين : 157»