“I see nothing objectionable in his hadith. His hadith is sound, though he is not well-known.”

Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him in al-Thiqāt and said: “He narrates uncommon reports.” See Taysīr Intifāʿ al-Khillān.

I say: Despite all this, al-Haythamī did not recognize him, as will follow.

It also has another route: Layth narrated it from Ṣafwān ibn Muḥriz, from Jundab ibn ʿAbd Allāh:

He passed by some people reciting the Quran and said, “Do not be deceived by these people. Today they recite the Quran, but tomorrow they will contend with swords!”

He then said, “Bring me a group of Quran reciters, and let them be elders.” So I came to him with Nāfiʿ ibn al-Azraq, Mirdās ibn Abī Bilāl, and a group of six or eight others. When we entered upon Jundab, he said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, say…”

I say: He then mentioned the same report about one who teaches people goodness. He said: “Whoever displays his knowledge ostentatiously before people, Allah will expose him on the Day of Resurrection; and whoever seeks to make people hear of his deeds, Allah will make him heard of. So know that the first part of a person to decay…” The hadith then continues as in al-Bukhārī’s narration.

Al-Ṭabarānī reported it (2/179–180/1685). Its narrators are trustworthy, except Layth—who is Ibn Abī Sulaym—for he is weak due to the confusion of his memory in later life.

Through this route, Abū al-Shaykh transmitted the portion concerning knowledge in al-Amthāl (181/276). Al-Haythamī mentioned this narration of Ṣafwān, along with part of the preceding narration of ʿAlī ibn Sulaymān al-Kalbī, and then said:

“Al-Ṭabarānī narrated it through two routes. In one of them is Layth ibn Abī Sulaym, who practised tadlīs,”