Ibn ʿAdī said, “He possesses more than one rejected report, and the critics have spoken against men better than he.”

He then cited the chain: “ʿĪsā ibn Aḥmad aṣ-Ṣadafī narrated to us; ar-Rabīʿ al-Jīzī narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Wahb narrated to us; al-Walīd ibn Muslim narrated to us; Mālik narrated to us, from Sumayy, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘The first thing Allah created was the Pen; then He created the Nūn; then He created the intellect and said, “I have not created any creature more wonderful to Me than you.”’ This is false (1).”

I say: Ibn ʿAdī spoke rightly (2). However, that Muḥammad is another man—a Qurashī who settled in Egypt and was known as Abū ʿAmr. Ibn Mandah mentioned him but erred in his lineage, later adding that he was a client of Quraysh and that his narrations are singularly weak.

I add: Ibn ʿAsākir has mentioned both men.

The Qurashī’s son is Muḥammad ibn Wahb ibn Muslim. He transmitted from Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, ʿAbdullāh ibn al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Zabr, and al-Walīd ibn Muslim. Those who narrated from him include al-Jīzī, Yaḥyā al-ʿAllāf, and Yaḥyā ibn ʿUthmān among the Egyptians.

I say: He is not reliable, whereas the first Muḥammad is trustworthy.

247 – Muḥammad ibn aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ ad-Dūlābī (Kh, M, D)
The imām, ḥāfiẓ, authoritative proof, Abū Jaʿfar al-Muzanī—their client—Baghdadi, cloth merchant,