“Authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim, though neither of them recorded it.” Al-Dhahabi concurred with him.

I say: Rather, it meets Muslim’s criteria alone. Al-Bukhari cited this Ibn Yaʿqub only in his Juzʾ al-Qiraʾah, and did not rely on him in his Sahih, although he was trustworthy. All its remaining narrators are among the transmitters of al-Bukhari and Muslim. Abu ʿAmir al-ʿAqadi was named ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAmr al-Qaysi al-Basri.

Some hadith critics raised reservations about ʿAli ibn al-Mubarak, specifically regarding his narrations from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir. This was because he had two books from him: one containing material he had heard directly from him, and the other containing material he had not heard directly from him. Yet the leading hadith scholars established a principle by which to distinguish one book from the other. Abu Dawud asked ʿAbbas al-ʿAnbari: “How can the book of non-direct transmission be identified?” He replied: “The material that Wakiʿ reports from him, from ʿIkrimah, is from the book of non-direct transmission; whereas people used to copy the book of material directly heard.”

Ibn ʿAmmar reported from Yahya ibn Saʿid: “What we narrated from him was from material that he had heard, whereas what the Kufans narrated from him was from the book that he had not heard.” This is what al-Hafiz relied upon when he said in al-Taqrib: “He had two books from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir: one consisting of direct audition and the other of non-direct transmission; thus, the Kufans’ reports from him are open to question.”

Nevertheless, Ibn ʿAdi unequivocally deemed his narration from Yahya trustworthy. After citing some of his hadiths, he said in al-Kamil (fol. 192/1): “ʿAli ibn al-Mubarak has hadiths other than these. He is an authoritative transmitter from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir and among the foremost authorities on him; in my view, there is no harm in him.”

Once you understand this, then ʿUmar ibn Rashid contradicted him both in the chain and in the wording. He said: From Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, reporting it—except that he said: “Those utterly absorbed in the remembrance of Allah: remembrance lifts their burdens from them, and they will come on the Day of Resurrection unburdened.”