“Habib ibn Hajar, Abu Yahya al-‘Absi al-Basri, who narrates from al-Azraq ibn Qays, from Ibn Umar. Musa ibn Isma‘il narrated from him.” I say: Ibn Hibban distinguished between the two, though they are one and the same, as is indicated by the treatment of the earlier scholars, such as al-Bukhari (1/2/316) and Ibn Abi Hatim (1/2/308), and of later scholars, such as al-Husayni and al-‘Asqalani in al-Ta‘jil (5/180).

They then differed over how the name Habib was to be vocalized: whether it followed the usual form, with an ungeminated consonant, or was Habbib, with a geminated consonant. Al-Hafiz cited both views without preferring either of them. Yet he said: “Al-Bukhari mentioned him at the end of those named Habib, with an ungeminated consonant.” I say: He overlooked the fact that Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned him with a geminated consonant.

Then I noticed something of which I had been unaware, following al-Hafiz: namely, that al-Bukhari preceded Ibn Abi Hatim in this, for al-Bukhari—meaning al-Bukhari himself—listed him at the end of the letter ha, in the chapter on Habbib, with a geminated consonant. Thus, he also preceded Ibn Hibban in distinguishing between this man and the preceding Habib, with an ungeminated consonant. Ibn Hibban, however, did not explicitly specify this; rather, he merely alluded to it in a way I had not noticed, and which the editor did not point out either: he listed him as a separate entry among others with single names.

In sum, the distinction made between the two biographical entries on the basis of the differing vocalization of the name is not clear. The same applies to his tribal attribution, al-‘Absi: this is how it occurs in the chain of transmission of the hadith—the wording being that of Ibn Abi Shaybah—and it also occurs this way in Habib’s entry in al-Thiqat. This differs from Ibn al-Sunni’s book and from the two books—namely, al-Tarikh and al-Jarh—and their later works, such as al-Ta‘jil and others, which give it as al-Qaysi; and this is more likely correct. Allah knows best.

This tribal attribution was corrupted in al-Musnad, with the result that Qays was made into Habib’s shaykh, thus: “Habib narrated from Qays, from Thabit!”