Abū Dāwūd (4895) and Ibn Mājah (4214) have narrated the section on humility from it, and it is referenced earlier (570). Muṭarrif was followed by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿĀʾidh; as recorded by Abū ʿAwānah in his "Musnad"—as mentioned in "Ittiḥāf al-Mahrah" (12/635) by al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar. Hammām—teacher of ʿAffān, who was a teacher of Aḥmad in this ḥadīth—said: Some of the companions of Qatādah said to me—and I only know it was Yūnus al-Iskāf—: He said to me: Qatādah did not hear the ḥadīth of ʿIyāḍ ibn Ḥammār from Muṭarrif. I said: He narrated to us from Muṭarrif, and you say he did not hear it from Muṭarrif?! He said: Then a Bedouin came and began questioning him and was bold with him. We said to the Bedouin: Ask him if he heard the ḥadīth of ʿIyāḍ ibn Ḥammār from Muṭarrif. So he asked him, and he said: No; four narrated to me from Muṭarrif, and he named three—the ones I told you about. I said: And Yūnus al-Iskāf is Ibn Abī al-Furāt, a trustworthy person, as translated by al-Mizzī in "Tahdhīb al-Kamāl" (32/535-537). Qatādah's explicit narration from Muṭarrif came through the route of Shuʿbah from him: with Aḥmad; and Shuʿbah sufficed us—as authentically reported—regarding Qatādah's tadlīs. What seems apparent—reconciling this and that; and Allāh knows best—is that Qatādah heard it from Muṭarrif after he had not heard it, so it descended to him, then ascended! With this—in my view—the issue of contradiction between affirming hearing—in the isnād—and denying it—in the mentioned dialogue—is resolved! The one who affirms is given precedence over the one who denies, especially since he is followed by al-Ḥasan, as previously mentioned, and even Muṭarrif himself is followed, as noted earlier. And Allāh knows best what is correct. *