1 — Our master, the shaykh, the peerless imam and exemplar, Jamāl al-Dīn, mainstay of the hadith masters, the foremost destination for seekers in his age, the blessing of the Muslims, Sharaf al-Dīn Abū Muhammad Abd al-Mu’min ibn Khalaf ibn Abī al-Hasan al-Dimyātī—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—informed us as I read to him, while he listened and followed along in his master copy, on the tenth of Ramadan in 702 AH, in al-Qāhira al-Mu’izziyya.
He said: The righteous, long-lived shaykh Abū al-Hasan ibn Abī Abd Allah ibn al-Muqayyir al-Baghdādī al-Hanbalī informed us, through a reading made to him while I listened. It was said to him: The learned shaykha and calligrapher, Fakhr al-Nisā’ Shuhda bint Abī Nasr Ahmad ibn Abī al-Faraj al-Ibarī, informed you through a reading made to her while you listened; and the following shaykhs granted you authorization to transmit: the hadith master Ibn al-Fadl, Muhammad ibn Nāsir ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sulāmī; Abū al-Karam al-Mubārak ibn al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Shahrazūrī; Abū al-Fath Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Hibat Allah ibn Abd al-Salām; and Abū Muhammad al-Mubārak ibn al-Mubārak ibn Ali ibn Nasr al-Sarrāj, known as Ibn al-Ta’āwīdhī; as did the notable Abū Mansūr Mas’ūd ibn Abd al-Wāhid ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Na’ālī, through a reading made to him while we listened.
Abū Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Sālih ibn Muhammad ibn Uthmān al-Na’ālī informed us. Abū al-Qāsim al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn al-Mundhir informed us. Abū Ali al-Husayn ibn Safwān al-Bardha’ī informed us, saying: Abū Bakr Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ubayd al-Qurashī narrated to us—may Allah Most High have mercy on him.
Shaykh Sharaf al-Dīn Abd al-Mu’min al-Dimyātī—may Allah preserve him—said: I also read to Abū al-Qāsim Yahyā ibn Abī al-Su’ūd Nasr ibn Abī al-Qāsim ibn Abī al-Hasan al-Qumusī al-Tamīmī al-Baghdādī at al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo. I said to him: Umm Atab Tajnā bint Abd Allah al-Wahhāniyya informed you when it was read to her while you listened. She said: Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Talha al-Na’ālī informed us through his aforementioned chain.
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—said: Abū Bakr Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ubayd Allah al-Qurashī narrated to us, saying: My father and Ubayd Allah ibn Umar al-Jushamī narrated to me. They said: Hushaym narrated to us, from Ya’lā ibn Atā’, from Abd Allah ibn Sufyān, from his father, who said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me something about Islam concerning which I will not need to ask anyone after you. He said: “Say, ‘I believe in Allah,’ and then remain steadfast.” I asked: What must I guard against? He gestured with his hand toward his tongue.