Ibn ʿAdī, regarding the report transmitted by Suwayd, said: “This ḥadith is known only through Nuʿaym, and it was because of him that people criticized it. Later, a man from Khurāsān—al-Ḥakam ibn al-Mubārak Abū Ṣāliḥ al-Khawāstī, about whom it is said there is nothing objectionable—related it, after which a group of weak transmitters, notorious for stealing ḥadith, appropriated it. Among them were ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk, al-Naḍr ibn Ṭāhir, and the third was Suwayd. (1)

Al-Khaṭīb said: It is also reported from Ibn Wahb and from Muḥammad ibn Sallām al-Manbijī, both on the authority of Ibn Yūnus; he then cited it through Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Wahb, from his uncle, and by way of al-Manbijī’s narration. (2)

Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb further said: al-Ṣūrī narrated to me, saying, “ʿAbd al-Ghanī the ḥāfiẓ told me: ‘Everyone who relates this ḥadith from ʿĪsā—other than Nuʿaym—only took it from Nuʿaym. Because of this ḥadith, Nuʿaym was discredited by many of the ḥuffāẓ, though Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn did not accuse him of lying. As for the version attributed to Ibn Wahb, its defect comes from his nephew, for Allah has protected Ibn Wahb from claiming anything of the sort. Moreover, Ḥamzah ibn Muḥammad told me from ʿAliyak (3) al-Rāzī that he saw this ḥadith appended in fresh handwriting in Ibn Wahb’s notebook when Baḥshal, Ibn Wahb’s nephew, brought it out to him. As for al-Manbijī, he is no authoritative proof.’” (4)

Ibn ʿAdī said: Jaʿfar al-Firyābī narrated to us: “When I was about to set out for Suwayd ibn Saʿīd, Abū Bakr al-Aʿyan said to me, ‘Ask Suwayd about this ḥadith.’ (5) So he dictated it.”