(1) The report comes through Talq b. Ali. Al-Mundhiri says in al-Targhib (1/182): “It was transmitted by al-Tabarani in al-Kabir, and all of its narrators are trustworthy.” Al-Haythami adds (2/120): “It was narrated by Ahmad and by al-Tabarani in al-Kabir, and its narrators are reliable.” I say: In Ahmad’s Musnad (4/22) it appears as follows: “Waki‘ narrated to us; ‘Ikrima b. ‘Ammar narrated to us; from ‘Abd Allah b. Zayd — or b. Badr, I am uncertain — from Talq b. Ali, in a marfu‘ wording.” This isnad is sound; every transmitter in it is thiqa, provided that the “Abd Allah” here is Ibn Badr, for he is reliable, as stated in al-Taqrib. This is most likely the case, since several other reports in the Musnad come from him through Talq. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar also preferred this view; in Ta‘jil al-Manfa‘a, immediately after citing the original wording, he writes: “‘Abd Allah b. Zayd or Badr — thus, with uncertainty — from Talq b. Ali, and from him ‘Ikrima b. ‘Ammar.” Ibn Hajar continues: “What I saw in the base manuscript of the Musnad is: ‘Waki‘ narrated to us …’ and he gave the same chain, but said: ‘from ‘Abd Allah b. Badr from Talq,’ with no mention of doubt. Furthermore, within the section devoted to Talq b. Ali in the Musnad, ‘Ikrima b. ‘Ammar appears only in this hadith, and I did not find the wording ‘or Ibn Zayd’ in doubt; the correct form is ‘Abd Allah b. Badr.’” I add: The variation is due to differences among the manuscripts. I consider the copy we have cited — the one relied upon by the editor just mentioned, Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. ‘Ali b. Hamza al-Husayni — to be the accurate version, for I have also located the hadith in al-Mukhtara of al-Diya’ al-Maqdisi