the weak! For if this resemblance is sufficient to convince those among the discerning critics, it is not enough to convince others who are satisfied with the narrator's truthfulness, memory, and accuracy, and who did not perceive this resemblance, or perceived it but did not see it as correct to make it a flaw that discredits the ḥadīth because of it, and accept the critic's view despite it contradicting another principle that is more important and stronger than the principle upon which Ibn Rajab based his rejection of this ḥadīth, which is that the addition of a trustworthy narrator is accepted. And the one who memorized is a proof against the one who did not memorize. What prevents the possibility that the ḥadīth was narrated from Abū Saʿīd al-Maqburī by both of his sons: Saʿīd, the trustworthy, and ʿAbd Allāh, the weak, and that ʿĀṣim took the ḥadīth from both of them, so he sometimes narrated it from Saʿīd, and Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī memorized it from him, and sometimes from ʿAbd Allāh, and Muʿādh ibn Muʿādh memorized it from him?! There is certainly nothing preventing this statement, rather it is necessary to preserve the principle we mentioned, due to its strength and consistency, unlike the other principle which is neither consistent nor precise, as is not hidden from those with understanding and knowledge in this noble field. For the fact that a trustworthy ḥadīth resembles a weak ḥadīth does not, in sound knowledge, indicate that the ḥadīth is weak and that the trustworthy narrator erred in it, as a weak narrator might narrate what resembles the ḥadīth of trustworthy narrators based on the principle "He told you the truth, though he is a liar." So how can it be permissible to reject the ḥadīth of a trustworthy narrator merely because it resembles a weak ḥadīth?! Rather, the opposite is correct: to accept from the weak ḥadīth what resembles and agrees with the trustworthy ḥadīth. Indeed, the unknown narrator's memory and accuracy are only recognized by comparing it to the ḥadīth of trustworthy narrators; what agrees with their ḥadīth is accepted, and what opposes and contradicts it is rejected. This is a well-known science in "Muṣṭalaḥ al-Ḥadīth." Among what supports the authenticity of this ḥadīth, and that Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī memorized it, and it is not solely from the ḥadīth of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd, is that Imām Mālik said in "al-Muwaṭṭaʾ" (2/940/5) "from Zayd ibn Aslam from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār that the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said: When the servant falls ill, Allāh sends two angels to him and says: Observe what he says to his visitors, for if when they come to him he praises..