“he may sometimes contradict others.” Al-Taqrib adds: “reliable, but prone to error.” A narrator of this calibre is not accepted when he is the sole source against stronger authorities. Secondly: Ismail ibn Ibrahim ibn Uqbah is cited only by al-Bukhari, not by Muslim. Thirdly: Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abi Kathir disagreed with him in both chain and wording. He reported: “Musa ibn Uqbah told us; Abu Ishaq told us, from Burayd ibn Abi Maryam, from Abu al-Hawra, from al-Hasan ibn Ali who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught me these supplications for witr…” – mentioning them without the clause: “when I raise my head and only prostration remains.” This version was recorded by al-Hakim and by al-Tabarani in al-Kabir; several others also transmitted it from Burayd, as will be shown. Al-Hafiz remarks in al-Dirayah: “That is the sound wording.” In al-Talkhis (3/431) he adds: “Note: this extra clause requires scrutiny. I saw it in the second part of the Fawaid of Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn Mihran al-Asbahani, from which al-Hakim cites: Muhammad ibn Yunus al-Muqri narrated to us; al-Fadl ibn Muhammad al-Bayhaqi narrated to us; Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah al-Madani al-Hizami… with the previous chain. His wording is: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught me to say in witr before bowing…’ – and at the end he added: ‘and there is no escape from You except to You.’” In sum, this additional phrase is not authentic, whether it is placed before or after the bowing. (*) The Shaykh later inclined to grade it hasan; see Irwa al-Ghalil 2/168-169.