I say: This chain of transmission is weak and has two defects:

First: the unknown status of this Umayyah. Ibn Abī Ḥātim did not mention him, and no one declared him trustworthy; hence al-Ḥāfiẓ rated him “acceptable.” However, he was not alone in narrating it, as will follow.

Second: Sharīk—namely, Sharīk ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qāḍī—had a poor memory. Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ corroborated him, but differed from him in the chain of transmission, inserting Ibn Abī Mulaykah between ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz and Umayyah ibn Ṣafwān. Al-Bayhaqī cited it in suspended form. Jarīr also corroborated him, but said: from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, from some members of the family of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣafwān, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Ṣafwān, do you have any weapons?” He said, “As a loan or by force?” He replied, “No, rather as a loan.” So he lent him between thirty and forty suits of armour … the hadith.

It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd, and al-Bayhaqī narrated it from him. The latter then recorded it through Anas ibn ʿIyāḍ al-Laythī, from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, from his father, that Ṣafwān lent the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, weapons consisting of eighty suits of armour. He said to him, “Was it a loan—”