according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs, but al-Dhahabī critiqued it by saying: "Yaḥyā, even though he is reliable, has been weakened, and the ḥadīth does not hold." 6 - Al-Ḥākim also narrated in his "Mustadrak" (p. 44/4) a ḥadīth for him, in which he said: It is according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs, but al-Dhahabī responded by saying: It is a rejected report and Yaḥyā is not strong. 7 - Al-Ḥākim also narrated in his "Mustadrak" (p. 243/4) a ḥadīth for him, in which he said it is according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs, but al-Dhahabī responded by saying: "I said: This is among the rejected reports of Yaḥyā." 8, 9, 10 - The honorable writer referred to ḥadīths of Yaḥyā in "al-Jawhar al-Naqī," and al-Manāwī criticized them in a similar manner as mentioned. 11 - Al-Ḥāfiẓ said in "al-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr" (p. 118): There is a discussion about him (meaning Yaḥyā), but he is truthful. And likewise, he said in "al-Taqrīb": Truthful, but he may err. I said: Perhaps he followed his teacher al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī, for it was reported from him in the "Takhrīj Aḥādīth al-Iḥyāʾ" (p. 355/3) his statement: "Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb was alone in narrating it, and there is a discussion about him, but he is truthful." 12 - I did not need to convey the words of the scholars about Ibn Lahīʿah and the leniency of Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Tirmidhī in authentication, as this is known to those engaged in this field. 13 - So if the ḥadīth is based on these two men, Ibn Lahīʿah and Ibn Ayyūb al-Ghāfiqī, and the words of the leaders of this field about them have been mentioned, then how can it be authentic? And Allāh knows best. In response to this, I say, considering its arrangement: 1 - This paragraph does not lack exaggeration contrary to reality, which is his statement: "Except that the leaders of criticism and modification still weaken..." So how can this statement be correct when al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī and al-ʿAsqalānī strengthen his ḥadīth as the honorable writer himself quoted from them earlier? The truth is that it should be said: The leaders differ in accepting his ḥadīth. And when this is the case, the resolution of this difference is by referring to the principles of this science