- (5/ 347): “Sulaymān ibn Harb narrated to us; Hammād ibn Yazīd narrated to us.” The correct reading, as found in the manuscripts and as is obvious, is “Hammād ibn Zayd.” See our edition (6/ 89).
Although he consulted the manuscripts, he was sometimes unable to read them correctly. For example, at (3/ 111), he adopted “He placed Abū ‘Ubayda in command of al-hussar (the infantry),” following the al-Risāla edition, although all the manuscripts read “in command of al-bayādhiqa (the infantry),” which is Muslim’s wording. Surprisingly, he cited the source of the hadith without noticing its wording. Still more surprising is his statement in the footnote: “In Kh: al-banādiq; the reading we have adopted is from Q, K.” This misreads manuscript (Kh) and attributes to the other two manuscripts a reading they do not contain at all!
Another example of misreading the manuscripts occurs at (3/ 510), where he adopted “fa-tajahharū” (thus, with an undotted r), following the al-Risāla edition, which actually reads “fa-tajahhazū (they made ready),” with a z. He then commented: “In (H): fa-tahajūf; the reading we have adopted is from Kh, Q, K.” Yet (H), and indeed all the other manuscripts, read “fa-tahajjazū (they girded themselves).” This is also the reading in the author’s source, ‘Uyūn al-Athar. The printed edition of Tabaqāt Ibn Sa‘d reads “fa-htajazū (they girded themselves),” which has the same meaning. The editor himself cited that work, but derived no benefit from it.
It is also noticeable that he attributes to the manuscripts readings they do not contain, particularly to the al-Zāhiriyya manuscript (H). In many places, when he finds a word in the al-Risāla edition—one of the interpolations introduced by its two editors, or by Shaykh al-Fiqī before them—which is absent from the manuscripts, he places it in square brackets [] and attributes it to one or more manuscripts. For example:
- (3/ 7): “Chapter on his guidance concerning jihad and military campaigns [and military detachments and expeditions].” He attributed the bracketed words to the al-Kattāniyya manuscript (K), although they are not found there, nor in any