I say: This Maṭar is Ibn Maymūn al-Muḥāribī. Al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “He is abandoned.”

2. As for the hadith of Ḥabashī, it is narrated by Isrāʾīl ibn Yūnus ibn Abī Isḥāq, from Abū Isḥāq, from him, with the wording: “Ali is from me, and I am from him; and none shall discharge my debt on my behalf except myself or Ali.” It was recorded by Aḥmad (4/164) and Ibn ʿAsākir in The History of Damascus (12/150/1). Its narrators are reliable, except that Abū Isḥāq—who is al-Sabīʿī—became confused in his later years. He also practised tadlīs. However, he was corroborated by Sharīk, from Abū Isḥāq, with the same wording. Sharīk said: “I said to Abū Isḥāq, ‘Where did you hear it from him?’ He replied, ‘At such-and-such a place; I do not remember it.’” It was also recorded by Aḥmad (4/165), al-Tirmidhī (2/299), al-Nasāʾī (p. 14, The Characteristics of Ali), al-Ṭabarānī in al-Kabīr (3511), and Ibn Mājah (119). Al-Tirmidhī said: “A good, singular hadith.”

I say: Yet Sharīk had poor retention. Even if he retained it correctly, the hidden defect remains the confusion in Abū Isḥāq’s later years, as we have mentioned. He was also corroborated by Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ, from Abū Isḥāq, from Ḥabashī. Al-Ṭabarānī recorded it (3512).

3. As for the hadith of Saʿd, it is narrated by Mūsā ibn Yaʿqūb, who said: Muhājir ibn Simsār ibn Salamah related to us, from ʿĀʾishah bint Saʿd, who said: I heard my father say: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say on the day of al-Juḥfah—whereupon he took Ali’s hand, delivered a sermon, praised Allah, and extolled Him—then said: