Sunan Abi Dawud 2777
سنن أبي داود#2777Sahihحَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ، عَنْ مُغِيرَةَ، عَنِ الشَّعْبِيِّ، عَنْ جَابِرٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " إِنَّ أَحْسَنَ مَا دَخَلَ الرَّجُلُ عَلَى أَهْلِهِ إِذَا قَدِمَ مِنْ سَفَرٍ أَوَّلَ اللَّيْلِ " .
Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The best time for a man to go in to his family on return from a journey is at the beginning of the night
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
Al-AlbaniSahih
Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul HamidSahih
Shuaib Al ArnautSahih
Zubair Ali ZaiSahih Bukhari (5244) Sahih Muslim (715 After 1928)
In-book reference: 15:301