4. Abu Awn al-Ziyadi, whose name was Muhammad ibn Awn: Abu Hatim declared him trustworthy, as did Abu Zur‘ah, as evidenced by his narrating from him.

5. Al-Abbas ibn al-Fadl al-Asfati: al-Sam‘ani did not mention this nisbah, but Ibn al-Athir added it in his al-Lubab, saying:

“This nisbah derives from selling and making asfat (baskets) (1).”

He then mentioned this shaykh, al-Abbas, and said:

“He heard from Abu al-Walid al-Tayalisi, Ali ibn al-Madini, and others. Abu al-Qasim al-Tabarani narrated from him.”

I say: Ahmad ibn Ubayd also heard from him in another chain of transmission recorded by al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra (8/65). I therefore consider him one of al-Tabarani’s shaykhs whose standing is not fully known. Al-Tabarani narrated twenty-two hadiths from him in al-Mu‘jam al-Awsat, as well as three others in Musnad al-Shamiyyin. The texts of all of them are known, even though some of their chains are not free of weakness or a hidden defect; that should not be held against him. Allah knows best how many other hadiths al-Tabarani narrated from him in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir, but it is most likely far more than this. For this reason, I am satisfied that this hadith of his is established, particularly since it has supporting reports: one from Abu Hurayrah, recorded by Ibn Hibban with a good chain and fully referenced in al-Irwa’ (7/54); and another from Anas, recorded by Ahmad, whose chain al-Mundhiri graded as good in al-Targhib (3/75).

I then found a corroborating route for al-Asfati which is acceptable, at the very least as supporting evidence, and which strengthens what I mentioned about him above. Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir cited his hadith in al-Bidayah (6/136), through al-Tabarani’s narration, and commented on both of them, saying: