Muwatta Malik 955

These are the words of a Companion, not of the Prophet ﷺ. The chain is graded on its own terms.

وَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يَحْيَى بْنِ حَبَّانَ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَهُ يَذْكُرُ، أَنَّ رَجُلاً، مَرَّ عَلَى أَبِي ذَرٍّ بِالرَّبَذَةِ وَأَنَّ أَبَا ذَرٍّ سَأَلَهُ أَيْنَ تُرِيدُ فَقَالَ أَرَدْتُ الْحَجَّ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ هَلْ نَزَعَكَ غَيْرُهُ فَقَالَ لاَ ‏.‏ قَالَ فَأْتَنِفِ الْعَمَلَ ‏.‏ قَالَ الرَّجُلُ فَخَرَجْتُ حَتَّى قَدِمْتُ مَكَّةَ فَمَكَثْتُ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ ثُمَّ إِذَا أَنَا بِالنَّاسِ مُنْقَصِفِينَ عَلَى رَجُلٍ فَضَاغَطْتُ عَلَيْهِ النَّاسَ فَإِذَا أَنَا بِالشَّيْخِ الَّذِي وَجَدْتُ بِالرَّبَذَةِ يَعْنِي أَبَا ذَرٍّ قَالَ فَلَمَّا رَآنِي عَرَفَنِي فَقَالَ هُوَ الَّذِي حَدَّثْتُكَ ‏.‏

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said heard Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban mentioning that a certain man passed Abu Dharr at ar-Rabadha (which was about 30 miles from Madina) and Abu Dharr asked him, "Where are you heading to?" and he replied, "I am intending to do hajj." Abu Dharr questioned, "Has anything else brought you out?" and he said, "No," so Abu Dharr said "Resume what you are doing wholeheartedly." The man related, "I went on till I came to Makka and I stayed as long as Allah willed. Suddenly, one time, I was with a crowd of people thronging about a man and I pushed through the people to him and it was the old man that I had come across at ar- Rabadha. When he saw me, he recognized me and said, 'Ah, you have done what I told you