“The chain of transmission is authentic!” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him.

That is what the two of them said. Yet this ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Walid—who was Egyptian—was not declared trustworthy by anyone besides Ibn Hibban. Al-Daraqutni said: “His hadith is not to be taken into consideration.” Al-Hafiz said in al-Taqrib: “Weak in hadith.” Al-Dhahabi left him without any evaluation in al-Kashif.*

3152—The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was born in the Year of the Elephant.

This was reported in the hadiths of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas and Qays ibn Makhramah.

As for the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbas, it is narrated by Hajjaj ibn Muhammad: Yunus ibn Abi Ishaq informed us, from his father, from Saʿid ibn Jubayr, from him.

Ibn Saʿd recorded it in al-Tabaqat (1/101), saying: Yahya ibn Maʿin informed us: Hajjaj ibn Muhammad informed us of it. Its wording is:

“On the Day of the Elephant—that is, the Year of the Elephant.”

The words “from his father” have been omitted from its chain of transmission; perhaps this was the error of the typesetter or copyist.

Ibn Hibban also recorded it in al-Thiqat (1/14), as did al-Tabarani in al-Muʿjam al-Kabir (12/47/12432), al-Bayhaqi in Dalaʾil al-Nubuwwah (1/75–76), and Ibn ʿAsakir in Tarikh Dimashq (1/400), through other routes from Yahya ibn Maʿin, with the wording: “The Year of the Elephant,” omitting the words, “On the Day of the Elephant—that is.” Al-Bayhaqi, conversely, narrated it as: “On the Day of the Elephant,” omitting the words, “that is, the Year of the Elephant.”