Variation in the narration and preference: This contradicts what Ibn Sa'd quoted in "al-Tabaqat" (3/193 and 8/13) from his shaykh Muhammad bin 'Umar al-Waqidi, where he mentioned that Abu Quhafah died in the year 14 AH at the age of 97. Ibn Sa'd is better, more eminent and more "reliable" in transmission than Sulayman bin Dawud al-Shadhakuni; indeed al-Shadhakuni is a "matruk" narrator. And what Ibn Sa'd quoted from al-Waqidi agrees with the view of the biographers (ahl al-sirah), such as the earlier narration of al-Zuhri and the narration of Khalifah bin Khayyat that passed at number (5140).