confused in the latter part of his life; he changed to the point that he no longer knew what he was narrating. Consequently, a great many objectionable reports crept into his ḥadith, and it is therefore obligatory to steer clear of any narration that the later students transmitted from him. If it is impossible to distinguish the earlier transmissions from the later, then all of them must be abandoned and none of them may be used as proof (1).

I say: And where are these “numerous objectionable reports” you claim? He has not mentioned a single ḥadith among them.

True, he does have a report from Ḥammād, from Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl, from Anas, from the Prophet ﷺ: “Shield yourselves from the Fire, even with half a date.” Yet he had previously narrated it from al-Ḥasan instead of Anas, as a mursal report—and that version is nearer the mark (2). ʿAffān and others likewise related it from Ḥammād.

Abū Bakr al-Shāfiʿī said: I heard Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī say, “I came to ʿĀrim, and he spread a mat for me at the door, came out, and said, ‘Welcome! How have you been? I have not seen you for some time,’ even though I had never visited him before. Then he said to me, ‘Ibn al-Mubārak said:

O seeker of knowledge, go to Ḥammād ibn Zayd;
Gain for yourself forbearance and knowledge, then bind it with a cord.

And the cord is with a cord,’ and he kept pointing with his hand at his finger repeatedly. From this I realised that he had become confused (3).”

Al-ʿUqaylī said: “ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Baghawī’s audition from ʿĀrim was in the year 217 AH.”