English Translation

Al-Hakim Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Hafiz narrated to us by dictation in Shawwal of the year four hundred — Abu Awn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khazzaz informed us in Makkah — Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Zayd narrated to us — Sa'id ibn Mansur narrated to us — Abu Awana narrated to us — from Abu Bishr — from Sa'id ibn Jubayr who said: I said to Hadrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be well pleased with them both): {And they made the angels, who are servants of the Most Merciful} — or "the servant of the Most Merciful"? He said: "Servants of the Most Merciful (ibad al-Rahman)." I said: "In my copy it reads 'abd al-Rahman' (servant, singular)." He said: "Erase it and write 'ibad al-Rahman' (servants, plural)." This hadith is authentic upon the conditions of the two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim), though they did not narrate it.