rushdīn ibn Saʿd does not care from whom he narrates, but he is a righteous man, so Haytham ibn Khārijah—who was in the gathering—considered him reliable; Abū ʿAbd Allāh smiled, then said: there is no harm in his narrations concerning heart-softening matters. It was recorded by al-ʿUqaylī (2/67). third: the narration of Ḥarb ibn Ismāʿīl who said: I asked Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal about Rushdīn ibn Saʿd, and he weakened him and preferred Ibn Lahīʿah over him. It was narrated by Ibn Abī Ḥātim (1/2/513). fourth: the narration of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad who said: I heard my father say: "Rushdīn ibn Saʿd; such and such." It was narrated by al-ʿUqaylī (2/66) and also by Ibn ʿAdī. I say: from the sequence of these narrations, it becomes clear to us that they all agree on the weakening except for the first narration; in it, there is no definitive assertion by the imam of his reliability, only hope, and this does not provide certainty as is evident. This is firstly. And secondly: if we assume it provides certainty; the reconciliation between this narration and the other narrations is that the reliability was before his weakness became apparent to him, and since criticism is given precedence over praise in differing statements from the imams because the critic has additional knowledge, and the one who knows is a proof against the one who does not know; this is also the way to reconcile differing statements from a single imam, and from this, the error of al-Mundhirī and al-Haythamī becomes clear in their unrestricted attribution of reliability to Aḥmad; which implies..