“Sulayman ibn Habib al-Muharibi told me, from Abu Umamah, in a report attributed to the Prophet.”

I say: This chain consists of trustworthy, known narrators, apart from Ayyub ibn Muhammad al-Sa‘di. This is how it appears in Abu Dawud’s version. Al-Hafiz said in al-Tahdhib: “Abu Zur‘ah al-Dimashqi, Yazid ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Samad, Harun ibn Abi Jamil, Abu Hatim, and others narrated it from Abu al-Jamahir and said: ‘Ayyub ibn Musa.’ Ibn ‘Asakir said: ‘This is correct.’”

I say: Ibn ‘Asakir transmitted Harun ibn Abi Jamil’s version in his biographical notice in Tarikh Dimashq (17/493/1). However, our copy reads, “Abu Ayyub ibn Musa told us,” so it appears that “Ka‘b” has been omitted, for he was Abu Ka‘b Ayyub ibn Musa.

There is another variation in his name. Al-Dulabi narrated it in al-Kuna (2/133) as follows: “‘Abd al-Samad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab—at al-Sa‘id—told us. He said: Muhammad ibn ‘Uthman Abu al-Jamahir told us. He said: Abu Musa Ka‘b al-Sa‘di told us, from Sulayman ibn Habib”—but without the middle clause. This is not a typographical error or an error by some copyists, for al-Dulabi cited him under the chapter of those whose agnomen is Musa, then listed the narrators so known and said: “…and Abu Musa Ka‘b al-Sa‘di, from Sulayman ibn Habib; Muhammad ibn ‘Uthman Abu al-Jamahir narrated from him.”

In any case, the correct form is, as Ibn ‘Asakir said, “Ayyub ibn Musa,” since the group unanimously agreed upon it. Al-Dhahabi then included him in al-Mizan and said: “Only Abu al-Jamahir narrated from him, but he declared him trustworthy.”

I say: Ibn Abi Hatim said nothing about him (1/1/258), while al-Hafiz said in al-Taqrib: “Truthful.”