I say: This unqualified statement is either one of his errors or an instance of his laxity, for you have already seen al-Hafiz’s assessment of Ja‘far ibn Abi al-Mughirah. Ibn Mandah said: “He is not strong in his narrations from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr.” This report is one of his narrations from him, as you can see, and he was contradicted by one more reliable than himself, as mentioned above.

However, immediately afterward, he cited a similar report from Ibn ‘Abbas and said: “Al-Bazzar narrated it from his shaykh, ‘Ali ibn Harb al-Razi, whom I do not know; the rest of its narrators have been declared reliable.” It appears that this is through a route other than the first; thus, the hadith is strengthened by it. ‘Ali ibn Harb al-Razi may be al-Ta’i al-Razi, for he belongs to this generation, and he was a truthful and eminent narrator. And Allah knows best.

He then mentioned a corroborating report from the hadith of Ibn Mas‘ud, with the wording: “Among people are keys to the remembrance of Allah: when they are seen, Allah is remembered.” But it is very weak; therefore, I included it in al-Da‘ifah (2409). Al-Haythami made an astonishing textual error concerning it, which caused its hidden defect to escape him, as I explained there.

1734 — “What remains of this worldly life is affliction and tribulation. The deeds of each of you are like a vessel: if its upper part is sound, its lower part is sound; and if its upper part is corrupt, its lower part is corrupt.”

It was recorded by Ibn al-Mubarak in al-Zuhd (596), from whom Ahmad (4/94) and al-Ramahurmuzi in al-Amthal (p. 101, Hind edition) narrated: ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid ibn Jabir informed us: Abu ‘Abd Rabbih related to me: I heard Mu‘awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan say from this pulpit: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say”—and he then cited it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission in my view. Its narrators are known and reliable, apart from Abu ‘Abd Rabbih; Ibn Hibban mentioned him in al-Thiqat, and a number of other reliable narrators also narrated from him.