This is how it appears there! Qatadah is not mentioned between Abu Tamimah and al-Thawri, although the latter did not meet Abu Tamimah (1). I do not know whether the copyist or printer omitted the mention of Qatadah, or whether the report is actually transmitted in this manner. The former is more likely—and Allah knows best.

Nor did the annotator of the Musannaf, or likewise the annotator of al-Ihsan (8/350, Mu’assasah edition), notice this break in the chain.

As for Sa‘id’s report attributed to the Prophet, al-Ruyani stated in his Musnad (folio 107/2): “Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us: Ibn Abi ‘Adi and ‘Abd al-A‘la (2) narrated to us; they said: Sa‘id ibn Abi ‘Arubah narrated to us, from Qatadah, with the same wording, attributed to the Prophet.”

Ibn Khuzaymah likewise transmitted it in his Sahih (3/313/2154), as did al-Bazzar (1040), through the route of Muhammad ibn Abi ‘Adi alone.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission. It is not impaired by the fact that some narrators stopped it at the Companion, for, as is apparent, this is not something that can be said on the basis of personal opinion. Al-Hafiz al-‘Iraqi said in Takhrij al-Ihya’ (1/238):

“Ahmad, al-Nasa’i in al-Kubra, and Ibn Hibban transmitted it, and Abu ‘Ali al-Tusi declared it good.”

I say: It is not found in the recently printed edition of al-Nasa’i’s al-Kubra, which is transmitted through Ibn al-Ahmar. However, al-Hafiz al-Mizzi noted in Tuhfat al-Ashraf (6/423) that it occurs in the transmission of Abu al-Hasan ibn Hayawayh from al-Nasa’i.

Al-Haythami said (3/193):

“Ahmad, al-Bazzar, and al-Tabarani in al-Kabir transmitted it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.”