In the present work, after an investigation into the personality of Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Khālid al-Barqī and his father Muḥammad b. Khālid in the books of biographical evaluation (rijāl) and bibliographies (fihrists), as well as an examination of the chains of transmission (isnāds) in the surviving portion of al-Maḥāsin in comparison with the isnāds in al-Kāfī, it is concluded that Aḥmad al-Barqī was among the reliable authorities (thiqāt) and trustworthy figures in the matter of ḥadīth, and his extensive narration from weak transmitters (ḍuʿafāʾ) has little reflection, at least in the surviving portion of al-Maḥāsin. Likewise, the collection of books comprising al-Maḥāsin is among the reliable ḥadīth sources, and the decrease or deficiency reported in it relates to the smaller or greater number of its constituent books, not to alterations in their texts. Furthermore, a comparison of the extent of al-Barqī’s narration from his teachers (mashāyikh) in the two books al-Maḥāsin and al-Kāfī can be considered an indication of the authenticity of the surviving portion of al-Maḥāsin.

KEYWORDS: Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Khālid, al-Barqī, al-Maḥāsin, sources of al-Kāfī, authentication (tawthīq).