"a ḥadīth that is ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ gharīb, we only know it from the ḥadīth of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muthanná." I said: There is a difference of opinion about him, and the ḥāfiẓ has mentioned the scholars' opinions about him, ranging from those who authenticate him, those who weaken him, and those who take a middle stance, then he favored authenticating him. Refer to it if you wish (1/189). So I say: In my opinion, the man has a type of weakness, and this ḥadīth of his indicates that; for he was remarkably inconsistent in it, yet despite that, it is not of the type that invalidates the ḥadīth; because there is no contradiction between his narrations, it is more akin to a difference of variety, and this that I have extracted is one type. And a second type: an abridged version from him, and its wording is: When he greeted, he greeted three times, and when he spoke a word, he repeated it three times. Narrated by al-Bukhārī, al-Tirmidhī, and others in a narration. And a third: shorter than it, and its wording is: He would repeat the word so that it would be understood from him. This is a narration of "al-Shamāʾil" and a narration of his in "al-Sunan." I had mentioned in the commentary on "Mukhtaṣar al-Shamāʾil" that al-Ḥākim critiqued it against the two Shaykhs; and that al-Dhahabī followed up by saying: "al-Bukhārī narrated it except for the phrase: (so that it would be understood from him)." I followed up there by saying that there is no basis for this critique; because al-Bukhārī narrated it—as in the ḥadīth of the chapter—with the wording: (so that you understand from him); and the meaning is the same