He then followed it with a separate biographical entry, saying:

“Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, Abu Nuhayk, was originally from Kufa and settled in Merv. He heard from Abu Zayd, Amr ibn Akhtab, and al-Husayn ibn Waqid narrated from him. We have mentioned him among the Followers of the Successors, because people do not know of his having heard from Abu Zayd.”

I have not found, among the Followers of the Successors, the Qasim whom he indicated that he had mentioned there. So I do not know whether he omitted him inadvertently, or whether it was dropped by a copyist or printer.

I say: It appears that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, whose kunyah was Abu Amir, was someone other than the one whose kunyah was Abu Nuhayk. There were two individuals known by the latter kunyah, Abu Nuhayk: one was a Successor, the narrator from Abu Zayd; and the other was a Follower of the Successors, al-Asadi al-Dabbi, whose biography appears in al-Tahdhib, which notes that Qurrah ibn Khalid and Mansur ibn al-Mu'tamir narrated from him. Al-Tahdhib states:

“Ibn Hibban mentioned him in al-Thiqat.”

Perhaps he is the one omitted, to whom reference was made above. For I find it unlikely that he meant the one I mentioned first—the one who narrated from Anas—because, had he meant him, al-Hafiz would have mentioned his narration from Anas and would not have included him in the sixth tier in Kunas al-Taqrib. Allah knows best. The matter requires further research and verification.

As for the other point, it is al-Haythami’s statement:

“...They declared them trustworthy.”

This indicates—as I have learned from examining his usage—that the trustworthiness of one of its transmitters is open to question. That transmitter is Abu Habibah al-Ta'i, for no one besides Ibn Hibban (5/577) declared him trustworthy, and no narrator from him is known