I said: This is a good isnād, all its men are trustworthy, and the only concern with Baqiyyah is his use of ʿanʿanah because he is a mudallis, but he has explicitly stated the narration, so we are safe from his tadlīs.

- "Poetry is like speech; its good is like good speech, and its bad is like bad speech." It was recorded by al-Bukhārī in "al-Adab al-Mufrad" (125) and al-Dāraqutnī (490) from Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ziyād ibn Anʿam from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Rāfiʿ from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr as a marfūʿ ḥadīth. I said: This isnād is a chain of weak narrators, including Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh and those above him. Therefore, the ḥāfiẓ decisively declared it weak, saying in "al-Fatḥ" (10/443) after attributing it to al-Adab al-Mufrad: "Its chain is weak, and it was also recorded by al-Ṭabarānī in 'al-Awsaṭ' who said: It is not narrated from the Prophet ﷺ except through this isnād." As for al-Haythamī's statement (8/122) after attributing it to al-Awsaṭ: "Its isnād is good." It is not good. Yes, it has supporting narrations that elevate it to the rank of ḥasan, including from ʿĀʾishah who said: "The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ was asked about poetry, and he said: It is speech, so its good is good and its bad is bad." Al-Haythamī said: "It was narrated by Abū Yaʿlá, and it includes ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Thābit ibn Thawbān, whom Duhaym and a group considered trustworthy, but Ibn Maʿīn and others weakened him, and the rest of its narrators are men of the ṣaḥīḥ." I said: If it has no defect other than this Ibn Thawbān, then it is a ḥasan isnād, because Ibn Thawbān is truthful but makes mistakes as mentioned in "al-Taqrīb"