Note / Clarification: In manuscript (S) this word occurs with a dotted "ba'" (muwahhadah). Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar explained it in "al-Fath" 10/ 428, saying: "That is, with his explicit name."

Grading: This hadith is sahih, except for its last part, which mentions his (peace and blessings be upon him) generosity and liberality at the coming of Jibril (peace be upon him).
Technical note / Defect ('illah): The correct position is that that part is from the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) (as will come), not from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her). And Ayyub (Ibn Abi Tamimah al-Sakhtiyani) did not mention 'Urwah (Ibn al-Zubayr) in his chain, as is clear from Ibn 'Asakir's "Tarikh" 4/ 25, and al-Daraqutni stated this explicitly in "al-'Ilal" (3487). Al-Daraqutni mentioned that Ayyub added at the end the addition about his (peace and blessings be upon him) generosity and liberality, and that this is his "error" (wahm), because it is from the hadith of al-Zuhri, from 'Ubaydullah, from Ibn 'Abbas.
Important point: We (the editors) say: it is more likely that the one who added it was "al-Nu'man bin Rashid" (not Ayyub). This is supported by the narration of 'Affan bin Muslim, Hafs bin 'Umar al-Hawdi and others from Hammad bin Zayd, since they did not mention Ayyub yet did mention this addition. Moreover, two other narrators narrated it from Ma'mar bin Rashid and did not mention this addition. So what remains is that it is an addition of al-Nu'man bin Rashid, who has "manakir" (denounced reports) and many errors. Al-Nasa'i also pointed out the error of this addition in "al-Mujtaba" (2096).

Reference / Source: Ahmad 41/ (24985) recorded it from 'Affan bin Muslim, from Hammad bin Zayd, from Ma'mar and al-Nu'man (or one of them), with this same chain, and did not mention Ayyub in it.

Reference / Source: Al-Nasa'i recorded it in "al-Kubra" (2417) via Hafs bin 'Umar al-Hawdi, from Hammad bin Zayd, from Ma'mar and al-Nu'man bin Rashid (here too without mentioning Ayyub), and in his narration he confined himself to mentioning that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not curse anyone, and his (peace and blessings be upon him) generosity and liberality.

Reference / Source: Ahmad 43/ (25956) recorded it from 'Abd al-Razzaq, and Abu Dawud (4786) and Ibn Hibban (6444) via Yazid bin Zuray', both of them from Ma'mar alone, with the words: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) never struck any servant of his with his hand, nor any woman, and he never struck anything with his hand except when fighting in the path of Allah." Then 'Abd al-Razzaq alone mentioned that he (peace and blessings be upon him) never took revenge for himself, and that when given a choice he always chose the easier of two matters.

Reference / Source: Al-Nasa'i (9118) recorded it via Muhammad bin Abi 'Atiq and Musa bin 'Uqbah, from al-Zuhri.

Details of the narration: (Its wording) is like the wording of 'Abd al-Razzaq's narration from Ma'mar.

Reference / Source: Ahmad (in many places), al-Bukhari, Muslim and Abu Dawud recorded it in abridged form via al-Zuhri, mentioning only his choosing the easier of two matters and not taking revenge for himself.
Important point: This makes it clear that the "addition" (the part about generosity and liberality) referred to earlier does not exist in the narration of al-Zuhri from 'Urwah.

Technical note / Defect ('illah): As for the statement "Whenever he (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked for anything, he never refused", it is established in the hadith of al-Zuhri, from 'Urwah, from 'A'ishah.
Reference / Source: Abu al-Shaykh recorded it in "Akhlaq al-Nabi (peace and blessings be upon him)" (93, 95) via Wuhayb bin Khalid, from Ma'mar, from al-Zuhri.

Reference / Source: Ahmad, Muslim, Ibn Majah, al-Nasa'i and Ibn Hibban recorded it via various routes from Hisham bin 'Urwah, from his father, from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) (mentioning that he struck no one, did not take revenge, and chose the easier matter). Some narrators abridged it to part of that.

Reference / Source: Ahmad recorded it at 42/ (25289) via 'Uthman bin 'Urwah, from 'Urwah, from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) (mentioning his choosing the easier of two matters).
Details of the narration: 'Uthman bin 'Urwah said: "Hisham reports this from me."
Reference / Source: Also Ahmad (in various places), al-Bukhari (6, 1902, 3220), Muslim (2308), al-Nasa'i (2416, 7939) and Ibn Hibban (3440, 6370) recorded via various routes from al-Zuhri, from 'Ubaydullah bin 'Abdullah bin 'Utbah, from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), that: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was the most generous of people in doing good, and his generosity reached its peak in Ramadan when Jibril (peace be upon him) met him. Jibril (peace be upon him) would meet him every year until Ramadan ended, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would recite the Qur'an to him. When Jibril met him, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was more generous in doing good than the swift wind (al-rih al-mursalah)."