among them without there being something like it among you. Even if a woman passes by a group of them, one of them will get up to her and have intercourse with her, then return to his companions, laughing at them while they laugh at him.”
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir (10/47/9882): Ibrahim ibn Na’ilah al-Isbahani narrated to us: ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Ubaydah al-Tammar narrated to us: al-Mu‘tamir ibn Sulayman narrated to us, from his father—so I understand—from Layth, from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Tharwan, from Huzayl, from ‘Abd Allah, with it. Al-Haythami said:
“Al-Tabarani narrated it, and it contains someone whom I do not know!”
That is what he said—and that was the extent of his knowledge. Yet all of them are known:
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Ibrahim ibn Na’ilah al-Isbahani: Abu Nu‘aym included his biography in Akhbar Isbahan (1/188–189), cited hadiths from him, and recorded his death in 291 AH. Al-Tabarani also narrated from him four other hadiths in al-Mu‘jam al-Awsat (1/3081–3084), and one more in al-Mu‘jam al-Saghir (275—al-Rawd al-Nadir).
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‘Ubayd ibn ‘Ubaydah al-Tammar: Ibn Hibban mentioned him in al-Thiqat (8/431) and said, “He reports unusual narrations.” Others graded him trustworthy, and a number of scholars narrated from him. See Lisan al-Mizan. Moreover, he is corroborated, as will follow.
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Those above him are trustworthy narrators of the Sahih, apart from Layth—who is Layth ibn Abi Sulaym. He was truthful, but became confused in his later years.
Through this same route, al-Bazzar recorded it (3/321/2846), through the narration of ‘Amr ibn ‘Asim: al-Mu‘tamir ibn Sulayman narrated to us ... citing its opening portion, with the wording:
“You are the nation that most resembles the Children of Israel in demeanor, appearance, and conduct.”