Ibn ʿAdī has reported some of what has been said about him in terms of weakening and authentication. Then he presented for him some ḥadīths, one of which is this, and then he said: "He has sound ḥadīths other than what I mentioned, and I did not find anything objectionable from him that exceeds the limit, neither in isnād nor in matn, except that he is considered among the Shīʿah of Kūfah, and in my opinion, he is reliable in ḥadīth and truthful." The third aspect: Zuhair said: Abū Isḥāq narrated to us from al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufrah who said—while fearing that the Khawārij would attack him at night—that the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) dug the trench, fearing that Abū Sufyān would attack him at night: "If you are attacked at night..." [and so on] the ḥadīth. It was narrated by al-Nasāʾī—as previously mentioned—along with mentioning a differing opinion in the first aspect, and preferring this narration of al-Nasāʾī from Zuhair. It seems to me—and Allāh knows best—that this difference in its isnād is from Abū Isḥāq himself, as he was confused and practiced tadlīs. Sometimes he would attribute it with mentioning the Companion without naming him; sometimes he would name him, sometimes he would send it, and sometimes he would mention al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufrah between him and the Companion, and sometimes he would obscure it. And what is undoubtedly clear to me is that the first aspect is correct, because it is from the narration of Sufyān—who is al-Thawrī—and he is the most reliable among those who differed regarding Abū Isḥāq from one perspective; then he narrated from him before his confusion from another perspective, and he explicitly stated hearing from al-Muhallab in the narration of ʿAbd al-Razzāq and al-Ḥākim as well, thus we are safe from his tadlīs and confusion, and Maʿmar followed him in that from a third perspective. Perhaps for this reason, the ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr decisively stated in "al-Tafsīr" (4/69) following the narration of al-Thawrī: "And this isnād is authentic."