On the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him):
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
“The best of people are my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them. Then there will arise a people among whom a man’s testimony will precede his oath, and his oath will precede his testimony.”
It was narrated by Aḥmad in his Musnad (1:442); al-Bukhārī in his Ṣaḥīḥ (7:6) under “The Virtues of the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him”; Muslim in his Ṣaḥīḥ, no. 2533, in the same chapter; and al-Tirmidhī in his Jāmiʿ, no. 3858, in the section on merits, “What has been related concerning the virtue of those who saw the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and accompanied him.” All of them transmit the ḥadīth through ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him).
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Provide concise identifications of obscure localities, citing the source from which the information is taken and indicating the volume and page—or, in lexical works, the relevant entry.
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In the footnotes, name the sources from which the author quoted, give volume and page numbers, and collate the quotation with the original source to ensure accuracy, restore any omissions, correct any errors, and note any discrepancies between the quoted wording and that found in the source.
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Number every stand-alone biography consecutively throughout the book so that the total can be tallied at the end, and supply brief notes on individuals who are mentioned in the text but have no dedicated biography.
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List, for each volume separately, the sources and references on which the editor has relied.
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Prepare, for each volume separately, an index of subjects and an index of the stand-alone biographies it contains.
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Each editor is to write a concise introduction to the volume assigned to him.
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Each editor is responsible for correcting the print proofs of his allotted volume. Footnotes and comments are to be written on separate sheets, leaving about three blank lines between one note and the next so that the reviewer can add further remarks during the final check—especially concerning the documentation of Prophetic ḥadīths and the assessment of their authenticity or weakness.
In conclusion, we ask Allah, Glorified and Exalted, to aid us all in presenting this great book in a manner that earns His good pleasure and to grant it the appreciation of the sincere servants devoted to the heritage of this noble ummah. Our last supplication is: praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all creation.
Damascus, 1 Shaʿbān 1405 AH
Servant of the Prophetic Sunnah,
ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Arnāʾūṭ.