ibn al-Awwām, from Jamīl ibn Zayd, from him, traced back to the Prophet.

It was transmitted by Tammām (fol. 243/1) and al-Qudāī (fol. 63/1).

This chain is weak and has two defects. The first is this Abū al-Salt. Al-Hāfiz said: “Truthful, though he narrated objectionable reports and was inclined toward Shiism. Al-Uqaylī went too far when he called him a liar.” The other is Jamīl ibn Zayd, whose weakness is unanimously acknowledged; moreover, he did not hear from Ibn Umar. Al-Haythamī said in al-Majma (8/88): “It was narrated by al-Tabarānī in al-Awsat and al-Kabīr. Its chain includes Jamīl ibn Zayd, who is weak.” I say: But he was not alone in narrating it, for Tammām stated immediately afterward:

“Yahyā al-Bakkā also narrated it from Ibn Umar.”

Al-Bakkā was also weak, but his standing was better than Jamīl’s, for he was in fact declared trustworthy!

Fourth: Abd Allāh ibn Amr. Al-Tabarānī narrated it from him in al-Awsat and al-Kabīr, traced back to the Prophet. Al-Haythamī said:

“Its chain includes Muhammad ibn Kathīr al-Fihrī (the original has: al-Nahrī), who is weak.”

I say: It was also narrated in mursal form. Ibn Wahb said in al-Jāmi (35): Ibn Samān narrated to us, from Zayd ibn Aslam and others, traced back to the Prophet.

Ibn Samān—whose name was Abd Allāh ibn Zayd—was a liar.

After writing the foregoing, I found a third route for Ali’s hadith, through Humayd ibn Abd al-Rahmān. Al-Diyā al-Maqdisī transmitted it in al-Mukhtāra (1/157) through three routes from Yahyā ibn al-Fadl al-Anazī: Abū Āmir al-Aqadī narrated to us: Hārūn ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ahwāzī narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Sīrīn, from Humayd ibn Abd al-Rahmān al-Himyarī, from Ali, traced back to the Prophet. He said:

“Regarding Yahyā ibn al-Fadl, I know of neither criticism nor commendation of him, though these leading scholars narrated from him