Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 3203 — Reports on storytellers and preachers

It is narrated from Muhammad bin Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: "Indeed, storytelling (unauthentic tales in the name of preaching and admonition) is an innovation (bid'ah)."
The chain of this athar is sahih (authentic); Imam Musaddad bin Musarhad recorded it in his Musnad, as transmitted in al-Matalib al-'Aliyah (3203), and all its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).