“ʿAbd al-Razzāq disparaged him, while Hishām ibn Yūsuf said: ‘He is truthful.’” Ibn Maʿīn is also reported to have declared him trustworthy. He then cited other hadiths from him and said: “He has good hadiths besides those I have mentioned, and I hope that there is no harm in him.”

I say: Muslim likewise declared him trustworthy. When Abū Zurʿah mentioned that ʿAbd al-Razzāq had accused him of lying, he countered this by saying: “I say that he is more trustworthy than ʿAbd al-Razzāq.” This is why al-Dhahabī and al-Ḥāfiẓ described him as “truthful.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ added: “ʿAbd al-Razzāq was unfairly severe toward him.”

I say: The narrators above him are trustworthy, although there is slight weakness in Yaʿqūb—namely, Yaʿqūb ibn Ḥumayd ibn Kāsib. Thus, the chain of transmission is good, as Ibn ʿAdī indicated. Indeed, it is authentic, for it has a supporting narration, as mentioned earlier under no. 2883. I considered it appropriate to cite it again here for an evident benefit.

2995 — “The devils came to the Messenger of Allah from the valleys and descended upon him from the mountains. Among them was a devil carrying a flame of fire, intending to burn the Messenger of Allah with it. He said: He was frightened. Jaʿfar said: I think he said: He began to draw back. Then Gabriel, peace be upon him, came and said: ‘O Muhammad, say.’ He asked: ‘What should I say?’ He replied: ‘Say: I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah, which neither righteous person nor wicked person can transcend, from the evil of what He has created, brought forth, and originated; from the evil of what descends from heaven; and from the evil of what ascends