that he came to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik, who was wearing a coarse waist-wrapper (1), and was circumambulating behind the House, wrapped in it. He was blind and being led. He said: “I greeted him, and he asked, ‘Who is this?’ I replied, ‘ʿAbd Allāh ibn Thaʿlabah.’ He said, ‘A brother of Banū Ḥārithah?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘And an in-law of Juhaynah?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Have you heard your father narrate a hadith which I heard him relate from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’ He said, ‘I heard your father say: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: …’” He then cited it.

Al-Ḥākim said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic,” and al-Dhahabī agreed with him!

I say: This is open to objection, for this al-Qazzāz is subject to sharply conflicting assessments: some have called him “a liar,” while others have called him “trustworthy.” Al-Dhahabī said in al-Mughnī:

“[He is] well-known; Abū Dāwūd and Ibn Khirāsh accused him of lying.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ said in al-Taqrīb:

“Weak.”

However, he has been corroborated. Al-Ṭabarānī said in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (1/250/801): “Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥaḍramī narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn ʿAnbasah al-ʿĀbādānī narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥumrān narrated to us”—through the same chain, but without the story.

As for Aḥmad ibn ʿAnbasah, this is how he appears in this narration—as “ibn ʿAnbasah,” attributed to his grandfather—for in al-Tahdhīb and its derivative works he is identified as:

“Aḥmad ibn ʿĀṣim ibn ʿAnbasah al-ʿĀbādānī, Abū Ṣāliḥ, a resident of Baghdad.”