Muwatta Malik 569
موطأ مالك#569Sahihوَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِك عَنْ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ كَعْبِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ الْأَنْصَارِيِّ أَنَّهُ أَخْبَرَهُ أَنَّ أَبَاهُ كَعْبَ بْنَ مَالِكٍ كَانَ يُحَدِّثُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ إِنَّمَا نَسَمَةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ طَيْرٌ يَعْلَقُ فِي شَجَرِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَى جَسَدِهِ يَوْمَ يَبْعَثُهُ
Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Kab ibn Malik al-Ansari told him that his father, Kab ibn Malik, used to relate that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The ruh of the mumin is a bird that sits in the trees of the Garden until Allah returns it to his body on the day He raises him
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:
In-book reference: 16:50