In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

The Preface of al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar to his book Bulūgh al-Marām

Praise belongs to Allah for His manifest and hidden favors, past and present. May blessings and peace be upon His Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad, upon his family, and upon his Companions who strove swiftly in championing His religion; and upon those who followed them, inheriting their knowledge—for “the scholars are the heirs of the prophets.” Noble indeed are both heir and heritage.

To proceed: This is a concise work that brings together the fundamental hadith proofs for the sharʿī rulings. I have refined it with utmost care so that whoever memorizes it will stand out among his peers, the beginning student may lean on it, and the advanced seeker still not dispense with it. After every hadith I have named the imām who recorded it, desiring thereby to offer sincere counsel to the ummah.

By “the seven” I mean: Aḥmad, al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, al-Tirmidhī, and al-Nasāʾī.
By “the six,” everyone except Aḥmad; by “the five,” everyone except al-Bukhārī and Muslim. I may also say “the four together with Aḥmad.” By “the four” I intend those other than the first three; by “the three,” what remains after them and after the last one. The phrase “agreed upon” refers to al-Bukhārī and Muslim, and at times I will mention no one besides them. Anything else is stated explicitly. I have entitled this work Bulūgh al-Marām min Adillat al-Aḥkām.

I ask Allah not to make what we have learned a burden against us, and to grant us the ability to act in a way that pleases Him.