with a letter addressed to Ahmad ibn Hanbal—that report is not sound.
Hadith from him was transmitted by Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, al-Nasa’i and, through an intermediary, Abu ‘Isa, in their respective collections; the intermediary mentioned in the Jamiʿ is Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Sulami. Others who narrated from him include: Abu Zur‘ah, Abu Hatim, Zakariyya al-Saji, Salih ibn Muhammad, Ibn Abi Dawud, Ibn Ṣaʿid, Abu Nu‘aym ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Adi, Abu Ja‘far al-Tahawi, Abu Bakr ibn Ziyad al-Naysaburi, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hatim, Muhammad ibn Harun al-Ruwayani, Abu ‘Awanah al-Isfarayini, Abu al-Hasan ibn Jawsa, Abu ‘Ali ibn Habib al-Hasairi, ‘Isa ibn Musa al-Baladi, Ahmad ibn Buhzadh al-Farisi, Abu al-‘Abbas al-Asamm, Ahmad ibn Mas‘ud al-‘Akari, Abu al-Fawaris ibn al-Sabuni, and a great many others from both East and West.
He lived to an advanced age; his name became renowned, students of hadith crowded around him, and he was indeed an excellent shaykh. He spent his life in the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge, yet he is not counted among the first-rank ḥuffaz. I have recorded him in the Tadhkirah and here only because of his standing and his fame in jurisprudence and hadith.
Al-Nasa’i and others said, “There is no harm in him.” (1)
Abu Sa‘id ibn Yunus and others said, “Reliable.”
They report that al-Rabi‘ said, “Every traditionist who narrated in Egypt after Ibn Wahb—I served as his prompter.” (2)
‘Ali ibn Qudayd al-Misri said, “Al-Rabi‘ used to recite with melody.” (3)