I say: He is truthful, as Abu Hatim stated. Ibn Hibban mentioned him in al-Thiqat (8/363) and said: “He makes mistakes and contradicts others.” I say: His hadith is good, if Allah Most High wills. This is also indicated by al-Hafiz al-Maqdisi’s statement immediately after it in Sifat al-Jannah—where he narrated it through al-Tabarani: “I see no problem with its chain of transmission,” as cited in Tafsir Ibn Kathir (1/523). It further states that Ibn Mardawayh narrated it through another chain from ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Imran, with the same wording.

Al-Haythami said in al-Majma‘ (7/7): “Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Saghir and al-Awsat, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, apart from ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Imran al-‘Abidi, who is trustworthy.” I say: It is further strengthened by supporting mursal reports in Tafsir Ibn Jarir (5/104), from a group that included Qatadah; its chain of transmission is authentic. There is another report through ‘Ata’ ibn al-Sa’ib, from al-Sha‘bi, from Ibn ‘Abbas: a man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said—then he mentioned the hadith. Al-Tabarani transmitted it in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir (12/86/12559), through Thabit ibn ‘Abbas Abu Bakr al-Ahdab: Khalid ibn ‘Abd Allah narrated to us from ‘Ata’ ibn al-Sa’ib. ‘Ata’ had suffered memory deterioration, and al-Haythami deemed the report defective on that account. However, I have found no biographical notice for this Thabit ibn ‘Abbas in the sources available to me, nor have the compilers of works on kunyas mentioned him.