when al-Muhallab was appointed over Khurasan, he said: "Guide me to a man who embodies all the qualities of goodness," and he was directed to Abū Burdah ibn Abī Mūsá al-Ashʿarī. When he came to him, he saw him as an outstanding man, and when he spoke to him, he found his character even better than his appearance. He said: "I have appointed you to such and such of my work," but he asked to be excused, and he refused to excuse him. He said: "O commander! Shall I not tell you something my father narrated to me that he heard from the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam)?" He said: "Tell it," and he said: "He heard the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) say: 'Whoever takes on a task while knowing he is not fit for it, let him prepare his seat in the Fire.'" He said: "And I testify, O commander! that I am not fit for what you have called me to." Yazīd said to him: "You have only increased my desire for you and made us more eager for you, so go forth to your duty, for I will not excuse you." Then he went out (thus the original, but perhaps the correct is: then he went out) and stayed as long as Allāh willed him to stay, and he sought permission to return to him, and he permitted him. He said: "O commander! Shall I not tell you something my father narrated to me that he heard from the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam)?" He said: "Tell it," and he said: (and he mentioned it), and he said: "And I ask you by the face of Allāh, will you not excuse me, O commander! from your work." So he excused him. I said: "And this isnād is good, its men are trustworthy, the men of Muslim, except that ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAyāsh is weak in terms of his memory, and similarly Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān." However, this has been followed up, as it seems to me from al-Mundhirī's statement in his extraction of this ḥadīth in "al-Targhīb" (2/17), where he said: "It was narrated by al-Ṭabarānī, and its men are the men of the authentic collections except for his shaykh Yaḥyá ibn ʿUthmān ibn Ṣāliḥ, and he is trustworthy." I said: "And he is from the same generation as Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, so it appears that he is a follower of him." And al-Haythamī said in "al-Majmaʿ" (3/103): "It was narrated by al-Ṭabarānī in 'al-Kabīr,' and its isnād is good, despite some weakness in it with verification." I said: "And it seems he is referring to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAyāsh. And Allāh knows best."