Al-Tayalisi recorded it (1222): Shu‘bah narrated to us, saying: Ziyad ibn Abi Ziyad informed me of it. I say: This Ziyad was the Hashimites’ client; there is no objection to him in corroborating and supporting reports.

Thirdly: Al-Hakam ibn ‘Utaybah differed from them, reporting it from Zayd ibn Wahb, from al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib, from Thabit ibn Wadi‘ah, thus adding al-Bara’ to the chain of transmission, with the wording: “There was a people who were transformed; and Allah knows best.” A man brought a spiny-tailed lizard to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Al-Nasa’i and al-Bukhari also recorded it, as did al-Darimi (2/92), Ibn Abi Shaybah (8/267), al-Bayhaqi, al-Tayalisi (1220), and Ahmad—all through routes from Shu‘bah, from him.

‘Ubayd Allah ibn Musa differed from them, saying: Shu‘bah narrated to us from Husayn, from Zayd ibn Wahb, from Hudhayfah, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the wording: “The spiny-tailed lizard is a people transformed into creatures of the earth.” Al-Bazzar recorded it (1215): Ahmad ibn Yahya narrated to us; ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Musa narrated to us.

These narrations make clear to us that they all revolve around Zayd ibn Wahb, may Allah be pleased with him, and that the narrators differed concerning him in its chain of transmission and in some of its wordings. As for the differences in the chain of transmission, they may be summarized in the following four forms:

1. Al-A‘mash, from Zayd ibn Wahb, from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasana, may Allah be pleased with him.

2. ‘Adi ibn Thabit, from Zayd ibn Wahb, from Thabit ibn Wada‘ah—or Wadi‘ah—may Allah be pleased with him.

3. Al-Hakam, from Zayd ibn Wahb, from al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib, from Thabit.