then he said—Wahīb remarked: “When ʿAtāʾ arrived in Basra he claimed, ‘I have written down thirty hadiths from ʿUbayda,’ even though he had never heard a single report from ʿUbayda; this is a case of severe confusion.

Abū Dāwūd transmits from Aḥmad, who said: “ʿAtāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib was among the finest servants of Allah; he would complete a full recitation of the Quran every night.”

Shuʿbah said, “ʿAtāʾ narrated to us—and he was forgetful (1).”

Yaḥyā said, “ʿAtāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib did not hear anything from Yaʿlā ibn Murrah.”

He added, “ʿAtāʾ became confused; whatever was heard from him early on is sound. Abū ʿAwanah heard from him both before and after the confusion, and his hadith is not to be used as evidence.”

Ibn ʿAdī reported: Ibn Abī ʿIṣmah informed us, Aḥmad ibn Abī Yaḥyā told us, “I heard Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn say, ‘Layth ibn Abī Sulaym is weak—just like ʿAtāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib.’”

All those who narrated from ʿAtāʾ did so after his confusion, except Shuʿbah and Sufyān (2).

Ibn ʿAdī also said: “ʿAtāʾ became confused at the end of his life. Whoever heard from him early on—such as al-Thawrī and Shuʿbah—find his reports reliable; but those who heard from him after the confusion encounter some irregularity in his hadith.”

Al-ʿIjlī said: “He was an early shaykh, reliable. He narrated from Ibn Abī Awfā. Those who heard from him in the early period—among them al-Thawrī—find his narrations sound; whereas those who heard from him later find his hadith muddled—among them Hushaym and Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allah. In his later days ʿAtāʾ would simply repeat whatever was dictated to him, for he was not competent at writing. His father was a trustworthy Successor.”

Abū Ḥātim said: “In his early days, before confusion set in, he occupied the station of truthfulness; thereafter his memory deteriorated,”