Sunan Ibn Majah 998
سنن ابن ماجه#998Sahihحَدَّثَنَا أَبُو ثَوْرٍ، إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ خَالِدٍ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو قَطَنٍ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ خِلاَسٍ، عَنْ أَبِي رَافِعٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " لَوْ يَعْلَمُونَ مَا فِي الصَّفِّ الأَوَّلِ لَكَانَتْ قُرْعَةٌ " .
It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘If they knew what (goodness) there is in the first row, they would cast lots for it.’”
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 Fouad Abd al-BaqiSahih
Shuaib Al ArnautSahih
Zubair Ali ZaiSahih Muslim
In-book reference: 5:196