Al-Ḥākim said, “Someone might mistakenly imagine that there is some weakness in Abū al-Azhar because Ibn Khuzaymah writes in his compilations, ‘Abū al-Azhar narrated to us, and I wrote it down from his book.’ Yet this supposition is unfounded. Abū al-Azhar lost his sight toward the end of his life and no longer retained his ḥadiths by memory, so it would sometimes be read to him again and again. For that reason Abū Bakr (Ibn Khuzaymah) prefaced what he heard from him with that particular wording.

Al-Ḥākim said, “Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar al-Mudhakkir narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn al-Azhar narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated to us; Maʿmar informed us, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn ʿUtbah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ looked at ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and said, “You are a leader in this world and a leader in the Hereafter. Your beloved is my beloved, and my beloved is Allah’s beloved. Your enemy is my enemy, and my enemy is Allah’s enemy. So woe to whoever hates you after me.” (1)’

Al-Ḥākim added, “Ibn al-Azhar related this ḥadith in Baghdad during the lifetime of Aḥmad, Ibn al-Madīnī, and Ibn Maʿīn. Some people rejected it until it became clear to the assembly that Abū al-Azhar was blameless in the matter, for his rank is that of the truthful.

“He has also been corroborated in transmitting it from ʿAbd al-Razzāq. ʿAbdullāh ibn Saʿd narrated to me; Muḥammad ibn Ḥamdūn narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Sufyān al-Najjār narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated it and mentioned the same report.

“I heard Abū ʿAlī the ḥāfiẓ, and I heard Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Zuhayr say: When Abū al-Azhar transmitted his report from ʿAbd al-Razzāq concerning the merits, he was informed …”