فَقَالَ يَحْيَى بْنُ أَبِي كَثِيرٍ فِي هَذَا الْخَبَرِ فِي الْقُبْلَةِ: أَخْبَرَنِي أَبُو سَلَمَةَ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ أَنَّ عُمَرَ بْنَ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ أَخْبَرَهُ أَنَّ عُرْوَةَ أَخْبَرَهُ أَنَّ عَائِشَةَ أَخْبَرَتْهُ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانَ يُقَبِّلُهَا وَهُوَ صَائِمٌ.
Translation: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr said of the report about kissing: **“Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān informed me** that **ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz informed him**, that **ʿUrwah informed him**, that **ʿĀʾishah informed him** that the Prophet used to kiss her while he was fasting.”
An isnād subtlety noted by al-Nawawī: This chain contains **four successive Tābiʿīs narrating from one another**:
1. Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr — a later-generation Tābiʿī narrating from Abū Salamah.
2. Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf — an early senior Tābiʿī narrating from ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz.
3. ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz — a younger Tābiʿī in age and generation, narrating from ʿUrwah.
4. ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr — a Tābiʿī narrating from ʿĀʾishah, a Companion.
This also illustrates **an older-generation narrator reporting from a younger-generation narrator**: Abū Salamah from ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. Two extra links occur between Abū Salamah and ʿĀʾishah. Neither a longer nor shorter chain is automatically authentic just because of its length.