This chain is good, or even authentic, and it is the best chain for this hadith of the opening supplication “Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdik.”

As for the hadith of Abu Sa‘id mentioned by the author: It was narrated by the five collectors, all through the route of Ja‘far ibn Sulayman Ad-Duba‘ee → ‘Ali ibn ‘Ali Ar-Rifa‘i → Abu Al-Mutawakkil An-Nāji → Abu Sa‘id. It states that the Prophet ﷺ used to say it, and it adds that he would say: “La ilaha illa Allāh” three times, during the opening supplication “Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdik, tabaraka ismuk, wa ta‘ala jadduk...” It also mentions that he would say “Allahu akbar kabira” three times, then say: “I seek refuge in Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from Satan the accursed, from his madness, arrogance, and evil whispering.” On the surface, the chain appears acceptable (Hasan): Ja‘far ibn Sulayman is truthful, and the rest of the narrators are trustworthy. However, the scholars declared this hadith weak for two reasons: 1. Ja‘far ibn Sulayman has been described as narrating odd and rejected reports. 2. ‘Ali ibn ‘Ali Ar-Rifa‘i—although many scholars considered him reliable—was criticised for weak memory. Because of this, At-Tirmidhi said after narrating the hadith: “Yahya ibn Sa‘id used to criticise ‘Ali ibn ‘Ali Ar-Rifa‘i.” And Imam Ahmad said: “This hadith is not authentic.” Abu Dawud also said after narrating it: “They say this hadith is actually from ‘Ali ibn ‘Ali from Al-Hasan as a mursal report, and the mistake comes from Ja‘far.” So the hadith of Abu Sa‘id is also weak. He then said: Muslim narrated in his Sahih that ‘Umar used to recite these words out loud: “Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdik, tabaraka ismuk, wa ta‘ala jadduk, wa la ilaha ghayruk.” This narration in Sahih Muslim is stopped at ‘Umar (not attributed to the Prophet ﷺ). Sa‘id ibn Manṣūr narrated in his Sunan from Abu Bakr As-Siddiq that he used to begin the prayer with this supplication. This athar of Abu Bakr has three routes. One was narrated by ‘Abdur-Razzaq through Ibn Jurayj, who said: someone trustworthy told me from Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and Ibn Mas‘ud that they used to begin the prayer with it. However, the shaykh of Ibn Jurayj is unknown. The second route was narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah: Abu Khalid Al-Ahmar → Ibn ‘Ajlan, who said: “It reached me that Abu Bakr used to say it...” This chain is disconnected. The third route is with Ibn Al-Mundhir in Al-Awsat. Its chain appears good, but it requires further examination of Ibn Al-Mundhir's sheikh. These different routes from Abu Bakr support one another. He also said: Ad-Dāraquṭni narrated it from ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan. He reported it through: Ya‘qub ibn Ibrahim Al-Bazzāz → Al-Hasan ibn ‘Arafah → Abu Bakr ibn Abi ‘Ayyāsh → ’Āṣim → Abu Wa’il, who said that ‘Uthman used to say this supplication when beginning the prayer. Its chain is good. There is also another route, the one mentioned earlier through ‘Abdur-Razzaq, from Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and Ibn Mas‘ud. So the report from ‘Uthman is established. Ibn Al-Mundhir also narrated it from ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, through another chain. It is reported by Ibn Al-Mundhir through Khusayf, from Abu ʿUbaydah from Abdullāh. Khusayf who is Al-Jazari, is weak, and Abu ʿUbaydah did not hear from his father. There is also another chain from ʿAbdur-Razzaq mentioned before. These two chains indicate that the report has an original basis. Al-Aswad said: When ʿUmar began the prayer, he would say: «سبحانك الله وبحمدك وتبارك اسمك وتعالى جدك» “Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise is Yours. Blessed is Your Name, exalted is Your greatness, and there is no god besides You.” He said: ʿUmar used to recite this aloud so we could hear it and learn it. This was narrated by Ad-Daraqutni, and also by ʿAbdur-Razzaq and Ibn Abi Shaybah, all through the route of Ibrahim An-Nakhaʿi from Al-Aswad ibn Yazid. Its chain of narration is sound. Summary: As for the narrations attributed directly to the Prophet ﷺ, we have: 1. The narration from ʿA’ishah, which is weak through all its routes.