Sharik—namely Ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Qadi—was weak because of his poor retention. However, the hadith is authentic, for it has corroborating reports from Abu Rafiʿ, al-Shurid ibn Suwayd, and Samurah, which are documented in al-Irwaʾ (1538 and 1539).

2359 — “Whoever lies about his dream will, on the Day of Resurrection, be tasked with tying a knot in a grain of barley.”

Al-Tirmidhi (2282), al-Darimi (2/125), al-Hakim (4/392), Ahmad (1/76, 90, and 91), and ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad (131) transmitted it through several routes from ʿAbd al-Aʿla ibn ʿAmir, from Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sulami, from ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, as a Prophetic report. Al-Tirmidhi said, “It is a good hadith.” Al-Hakim said, “Its chain of transmission is authentic!” Al-Dhahabi rebutted this, saying: “I say: Abu Zurʿah declared ʿAbd al-Aʿla weak.” Al-Hafiz said: “Truthful, but prone to error.” In al-Fath (12/359), he said: “Its chain of transmission is good. Al-Hakim declared it authentic, but it is narrated through ʿAbd al-Aʿla ibn ʿAmir, whom Abu Zurʿah declared weak.”

I say: Further evidence of his weakness and poor retention is his inconsistency in the wording of this hadith, which appears in several forms. The first is this one.