Yet this hadith refutes that claim, for, as you can see, Fayyāḍ narrated it from him, and the chain leading to Fayyāḍ is authentic according to Muslim’s criteria. This is an important point that you will not find in the well-known biographical works, not even in al-Tahdhīb. Nevertheless, al-Taqrīb says of him: “Truthful”! So hold fast to this point. Muḥammad ibn ʿAṭiyyah was corroborated in his narration from Anas, but with the wording: “Those who frequent Allah’s houses are Allah’s people.” Its chain, however, is weak; for this reason, I included it in the other book under no. 1682.

2729 — “He could not be impersonated before anyone who had seen him.”

Al-Ṭabarānī recorded it in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (10/264/10510): Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdūs ibn Kāmil related to us: al-Walīd ibn Shujāʿ related to us: al-Muṭṭalib ibn Ziyād related to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĪsā, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, who said: He then related it as a statement of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. All its narrators, apart from Ibn ʿAbdūs, are trustworthy men included in al-Tahdhīb; Ibn ʿAbdūs himself is trustworthy, and al-Khaṭīb gives him a good biographical notice in al-Tārīkh (2/381). There is some disagreement concerning al-Muṭṭalib ibn Ziyād, but it is of no consequence, Allah willing. Al-Ḥāfiẓ alluded to this when he said of him in al-Taqrīb: “Truthful, though he may sometimes err.” Similar is al-Haythamī’s statement in al-Majmaʿ (7/182): “Al-Ṭabarānī narrated it, and its narrators are trustworthy.”

I say: It has also been authentically reported as a saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, through another route from Ibn Masʿūd, may Allah be pleased with him, with the wording: “Whoever sees me in a dream has truly seen me, for Satan cannot impersonate me.”