Abu Musa answered, “Messenger of Allah! Had I known you were there, I would have embellished it with an even finer embellishment.” Al-Hakim declared: “Its chain is sound,” and al-Dhahabi agreed. I add: al-Dhahabi himself lists this Khalid in al-Mizan, saying, “Abu Zurʿa and al-Nasaʾi judged him weak; he is one of the descendants of Abu Musa. Abu Hatim said, ‘He is not strong, but his reports may be written down.’ Abu Dawud said, ‘He is abandoned in hadith.’ This last verdict is excessive, for Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Musaddad both transmitted from him, so he does not deserve to be discarded altogether.” End quote. Accordingly, the man is weak—neither reliable nor wholly rejected—and a report that relies solely on someone of his rank cannot be considered authentic. Al-Tabarani also transmitted the narration through him; Majmaʿ (9/360) comments: “Ibn Hibban declared him trustworthy, while several scholars rated him weak; the remaining transmitters meet the conditions of the Sahih.” I note, however, that the forthcoming hadith of Burayda strengthens it. Ibn Hajar, in Fath al-Bari (9/76), likewise attributes the report to Abu Yaʿla through the route of Saʿid ibn Abi Burda and offers no criticism. Supporting narrations (shawahid) include: 1. The report of Burayda ibn al-Husayn. It is recorded by Muslim (2/192–193), al-Darimi (2/473), ʿAbd al-Razzaq in his Amali (2/44/1 = no. 69/89), al-Tahawi (2/59), Ahmad (5/349), and Abu Nuʿaym in Hilyat al-Awliyaʾ (1/258) through Malik ibn Mighwal, from Ibn Burayda, from Burayda, with the wording: “Abu Musa has indeed been granted…,” the rest matching the above narration. Al-Ruyani also transmits it via this chain with wording similar to that reported by Saʿid ibn Abi Burda, stating: