that perhaps this ḥadīth narrated from Ayyūb from Saʿīd al-Maqburī is Ayyūb Abū al-ʿAlāʾ, who is Ayyūb ibn Miskīn." And perhaps this is correct. And Allāh knows best. And this Ayyūb is trustworthy but has some errors, as mentioned in "Taqrīb." Ibn Isḥāq is a mudallis, and it was extracted through his route by Abū Dāwūd (3537) in a shortened form. He was corroborated, as Aḥmad said (2/292): Yazīd narrated to us: Abū Maʿshar informed us from Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd al-Maqburī with it. And this Abū Maʿshar's name is Najīḥ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sindī al-Madanī, and he is weak. And Yazīd is Ibn Hārūn, so it appears that he has two shaykhs in it: Ayyūb ibn Abī Miskīn and Abū Maʿshar. He was followed by Ibn ʿAjlān from al-Maqburī with it. It was extracted by al-Bayhaqī (6/180), so the ḥadīth, with all these corroborations, is authentic. It has another route from Abū Hurayrah in a shortened form. It was extracted by Ibn Ḥibbān (1145). And it has, with him and with al-Ḍiyāʾ (62/281/2), a witness from the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās. And its chain is authentic.

"A man said: By Allāh, Allāh will not forgive so-and-so, and Allāh said: Who is it that swears by Me that I will not forgive so-and-so?! Verily, I have forgiven so-and-so and nullified your deeds. Or as he said." Narrated by Muslim (8/36) and Ibn Abī al-Dunyā in "Ḥusn al-Ẓann bi-Allāh" (190/1-2)