It is therefore astonishing that this escaped al-Haythamī, especially since one of his own works is Tartīb Thiqāt Ibn Ḥibbān. As for al-Mundhirī, he seems to have been aware of this declaration of reliability, for I found him saying in al-Targhīb (3/91/10)—after citing it in the wording of ʿAbd al-Razzāq:

“Al-Ṭabarānī transmitted it in al-Kabīr with a good, sound chain of transmission.”

I fear that the mention of Yazīd ibn Abī Bakrah between Ibn Sīrīn and Ḥabībah was an error on the part of ʿAbd al-Razzāq or someone else, because of Abān ibn Samʿah’s narration, which contains no mention of him—particularly Ibn Saʿd’s narration from Abān, for it explicitly states that Ibn Sīrīn related it to Yazīd ibn Abī Bakrah in prison. This is why Ibn Saʿd said immediately afterward:

“Thus Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn narrated it from Ḥabībah, without identifying her lineage; so we do not know whether she was the daughter of Sahl or someone else!”

I say: Rather, she was Ḥabībah bint Abī Sufyān, as is explicitly stated in al-Anṣārī’s narration recorded by al-Ṭabarānī, who placed the hadith under her name. Abū Nuʿaym mentioned that she was ʿĀishah’s servant, and at the end of her hadith in his version it reads:

ʿĀishah said to me, “Did you hear?” I replied, “Yes.” She said, “Then remember it well.”

Al-Ḥasan ibn Sufyān likewise transmitted it in his Musnad, as cited in al-Iṣābah, and decisively identified her as Ḥabībah bint Abī Sufyān. He also refuted those who thought otherwise; consult it if you wish.

Abān ibn Samʿah—the Anṣārī—was declared trustworthy by a number of scholars. Muslim recorded one hadith from him as a corroborating report: “Remove harm from the path of the Muslims.” Its documentation was previously given under no. 2372. The most that has been said about him is that he became confused in his later years. For this reason, Ibn ʿAdī said in al-Kāmil (1/392):