anyone who arranged the material in that order. I would question him about the weak transmitters who emerged after the year 300 AH in Nishapur and elsewhere among the shaykhs of Khurasan, and he would clarify matters without showing partiality.

Al-Muʾammal ibn Muḥammad and others informed us in writing, saying:
Zayd ibn al-Ḥasan told us; Abū Manṣūr al-Qazzāz told us; Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb told us: “Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Bayyiʿ al-Ḥākim was reliable; his first audition was in 330 AH. He did, however, lean toward Shiʿism. Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad al-Urmawī in Nishapur—who was a righteous, learned man—related to me: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥākim compiled a collection of hadiths, claiming that they were authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhārī and Muslim. Among them were the ḥadith of the Bird (1) and the ḥadith, ‘For whomever I am his master, ʿAlī is his master’ (2). The hadith scholars objected to this and paid no heed to his claim (3).”

Abū Nuʿaym al-Ḥaddād said: I heard al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad al-Samarqandī, the ḥāfiẓ, say: I heard Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Shādhyākhī al-Ḥākim say:
“We were in the gathering of Sayyid Abū al-Ḥasan when Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥākim was asked about the ḥadith of the Bird. He replied, ‘It is not authentic—and even if it were, no one would be superior to ʿAlī after the Prophet ﷺ (4).’”