Third:
An exposition of the wisdom behind his dividing a ḥadīth into segments and abridging it, and the benefit of his re-introducing and repeating the same ḥadīth.

Fourth:
A clarification of the reason he cites suspended aḥādīth and halted reports, even though they differ from the book’s principal subject. To this I have appended the full chains of the suspended elevated aḥādīth and briefly indicated the scholars who completed them.

Fifth:
A regulation of the unfamiliar vocabulary found in the texts, arranged alphabetically in the most succinct wording and clearest indication, so that consulting it is easy and its repetition light.

Sixth:
A regulation of the problematic personal names in the work—as well as the kunyas and nisbas—which fall into two sections:
First: the similar and dissimilar forms that can be subsumed under a general rule, making them easy to consult and reducing repetition; whatever lies outside this is mentioned in the main text.
Second: the individual instances of such names.

Seventh:
An identification of his shaykhs whose lineage he omitted whenever the name is common—such as Muḥammad—and not when it is rare—such as Musaddad. This chapter also treats, in summary form and following the order of the book, every neglected or unidentified narrator it contains.

Eighth:
A presentation of the aḥādīth for which he was criticized by the ḥadīth master of his age, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Dāraquṭnī, and by other critics, with a response to each ḥadīth individually, showing that none of them breaches the criterion we have established.

Ninth:
A listing, in alphabetical order, of everyone among his transmitters who has been impugned, together with a fair and just answer to that censure, and an excuse for the author’s citing some narrators whose criticism appears strong—whether because he avoided the point for which they were faulted, or because he supported their narration with that of someone more reliable, or for other reasons.

Tenth:
A chapter-by-chapter index of the book, together with the number of aḥādīth in each chapter—by which the total number of aḥādīth, including repetitions, becomes clear. I have inserted this section after the manner of Shaykh al-Islām Abū Zakariyyā al-Nawawī, may Allah show him mercy, seeking blessing through him; I then added what I learned in this regard from Shaykh al-Islām Abū Ḥafs al-Bulqinī, may Allah show him mercy. After that I appended a list of the Companions named in the work, arranged alphabetically, together with the number of aḥādīth attributed to each of them, whereby the exact total of unique aḥādīth in the book—excluding repetitions—becomes manifest.

I then conclude this introduction with a biographical sketch that uncovers his distinctive qualities and virtues and gathers his exploits and merits, so that his mention becomes the clasp of this necklace and the musk-scented seal of its close. When these chapters have been refined and these foundations established, I shall begin my commentary on the book, seeking the help of the All-Bestowing Opener. I shall, Allah willing, first cite the chapter heading with its ḥadīth, and then, if the link between them is obscure, explain that connection. Second, I shall extract from the ḥadīth whatever sound benefits pertain to it—textual or isnād-related—such as supplements, additions, clarification of the obscure, explicit statements of hearing by a narrator known for tadlīs, or corroboration by a pupil for a teacher who later became confused, drawing all of this from the principal musnads, comprehensive collections, mustakhrajs, fascicles, and monographs, on the condition that whatever I cite is authentic or at least ḥasan.

Third, I shall supply the chains for his suspended and halted reports; there the additional benefits will gather and the scattered pearls will align.

Fourth, I shall establish the correct reading of every problematic element already mentioned, whether names or descriptions, clarify the lexical meanings of words, point out rhetorical subtleties, and the like.

Fifth, I shall record what I have learned from the imams regarding the legal rulings, ascetic counsels, and refined etiquettes they derived from that report, limiting myself to the preponderant views and preferring what is clear to what is obscure in those paths, while striving to reconcile whatever appears to conflict with other evidence,