"authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhārī and Muslim." al-Dhahabī agreed with him, and it is as they said. Abū Nuʿaym indicated its authenticity by saying afterward: "It is well-known from the ḥadīth of Abū al-Ṣiddīq from Abū Saʿīd." By saying "well-known," he refers to the numerous chains from Abū al-Ṣiddīq, as mentioned earlier. Abū al-Ṣiddīq's name is Bakr ibn ʿAmr, and he is unanimously considered trustworthy and relied upon by al-Bukhārī and Muslim and all the ḥadīth scholars. Therefore, anyone from the later scholars who weakened this ḥadīth has opposed the path of the believers. For this reason, Ibn Khaldūn could not weaken it, despite his excessive weakening of most of the ḥadīths about the Mahdī. Rather, he acknowledged al-Ḥākim's authentication of this chain and the following one. Thus, whoever attributed to him that he weakened all the ḥadīths about the Mahdī has falsely accused him, either inadvertently or deliberately. The second: Sulaymān ibn ʿUbayd narrated to us from Abū al-Ṣiddīq al-Nājī, and his wording is: "The Mahdī will emerge in my nation; Allāh will grant him rain, the earth will bring forth its vegetation, wealth will be given abundantly, livestock will increase, and the nation will grow in stature. He will live for seven or eight years, meaning years." al-Ḥākim recorded it (4/557-558) and said: "Its chain is authentic." al-Dhahabī and Ibn Khaldūn also agreed, as Ibn Khaldūn said afterward in "al-Muqaddimah" (Chapter 53, p. 250): "Even though none of the six [canonical ḥadīth collectors] reported from Sulaymān ibn ʿUbayd, Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned him in 'al-Thiqāt,' and no one is known to have criticized him." I say: Ibn Maʿīn also deemed him trustworthy, and Abū Ḥātim said: "He is truthful." Thus, it is an authentic chain, as mentioned by al-Ḥākim, al-Dhahabī, and Ibn Khaldūn. The rest of the chains and supporting narrations have been documented in "al-Rawḍ al-Naḍīr" under the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd (647) from various chains