The second: with the wording: “…will be tasked with tying a knot between two grains of barley.” Al-Hakim transmitted it.

The third: with the wording: “Whoever deliberately lies concerning a dream, let him take his seat in the Fire.” Ahmad transmitted it (1/131).

The fourth: the same, except that he said: “Whoever deliberately lies about me …” Ahmad transmitted it (1/130).

I say: This last wording is the more likely, for it has also been narrated from ʿAli through another route: from Habib, from Thaʿlabah, from ʿAli, as a Prophetic report with this wording. Ahmad transmitted it (1/78). Its narrators are trustworthy and are among the narrators of the two Shaykhs, except that Habib—who is Ibn Abi Thabit—narrates it with an ambiguous “from,” and except for Thaʿlabah—who is Ibn Yazid al-Humani—whom al-Nasaʾi and Ibn Hibban declared trustworthy.

The second wording is reliably established in the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbas, as a Prophetic report, except that it states: “Whoever falsely claims to have had a dream that he did not see will be tasked with tying a knot between two grains of barley, but he will never do so.” Al-Bukhari transmitted it (12/359—Fath), as did al-Tirmidhi (2284), who said: “A good, authentic hadith.”

Note: Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi transmitted this hadith in al-Tarikh (11/93), through Sufyan al-Thawri, from ʿAsim, from Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sulami, with the first wording. Through this route, al-Tirmidhi and others transmitted it from ʿAbd al-Aʿla ibn ʿAmir, from Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sulami … Thus, the words “from ʿAsim” in al-Khatib’s narration are anomalous. Perhaps the original read “from Ibn ʿAmir,” but was corrupted by one of the narrators or copyists into “from ʿAsim.” And Allah knows best.