a hadith better than it, except the Book of Allah and a report from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.” He then cited it.

I say: This chain of transmission is authentic; all its narrators are trustworthy. Abu Muhammad was Abd Allah ibn Yusuf, known as al-Asbahani. He was among the trustworthy, widely travelled hadith scholars, and died in 409 AH, as stated in Shadharat. Abu Sa'id ibn al-A'rabi was a well-known, trustworthy hadith master; al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi included his biography in al-Tadhkirah. He authored a number of works, including al-Mu'jam, a manuscript copy of which is held in the al-Zahiriyyah Library. This hadith may be found in it, so it should be consulted; it is presently beyond my reach, since they have collected it together with other books for photographing.

Sa'dan ibn Nasr was trustworthy; his biography appears in al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil and Tarikh Baghdad. All those above him in the chain are trustworthy narrators found in Muslim's collection, and Umarah is Umarah ibn Umayr al-Taymi. Thus, the chain is undoubtedly authentic. However, I have some reservation concerning its attribution to the Prophet, since this is not explicit in it; nevertheless, it is in any case treated as attributed to the Prophet. And Allah knows best.

It has a very brief corroborating report narrated by Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The Children of Israel wrote a book, followed it, and abandoned the Torah.”

Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat (2/39/1–2/5678): Muhammad ibn Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Jandal ibn Waliq narrated to us; Ubayd Allah ibn Amr narrated to us, from Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr, from Abu Burdah, from his father … He said: “No one narrated it from Abd al-Malik ibn Umayr except Ubayd Allah ibn Amr; Jandal ibn Waliq was alone in transmitting it.” I say: In al-Taqrib: