A mubham, then, is any report in whose chain a narrator is left unnamed; this is the twelfth category of ḥadith mentioned in the poem.

For example, a transmitter might say, “A man related to me; he said: ‘So-and-so narrated from so-and-so, from so-and-so.’” Such a report we call mubham because the first narrator remains unidentified. The same applies if he says, “A reliable person (thiqa) told me,” for we do not know who that “reliable” person is; he may be trustworthy in the eyes of this scholar yet not in the judgment of others. Likewise, the wording, “Someone I trust informed me,” is also mubham. So too, “The owner of this house narrated to me,” unless that householder is already known by name.

In short, a mubham ḥadith is any narration in whose chain there is an unnamed transmitter. A different situation is the well-known ḥadith of Anas — may Allah be pleased with him — who said: “A Bedouin came in on Friday while the Prophet ﷺ was delivering the sermon…” ᵀʰᵉ ʰᵃᵈⁱᵗʰ ¹ Here the Bedouin himself is mubham, yet he is not part of the chain; the report is about him, not from him. Therefore the author’s phrase “in whose chain a narrator is not named” means precisely that: the anonymity occurs within the sanad.

The legal ruling is that a mubham’s narration is not accepted until the identity of the unknown person is established, for we have no knowledge of his reliability. The sole exception is when the unnamed individual is a Companion, for their anonymity causes no harm; every Companion is upright and trustworthy, as attested by Allah in His words: “And each of them Allah has promised the best reward, and Allah is Fully Aware of what you do” (al-Ḥadīd 57:10), and in His praise: “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those who are with him are firm against the disbelievers, compassionate among themselves…” (al-Fatḥ