—its precise wording (1).
All that has preceded (2) deals only with whether such substitution is permissible or not, and there is no doubt that the preferable course is to cite the ḥadith in its very wording (3), without altering it.
Judge ʿIyāḍ (4) said, “The door of narrating by meaning ought to be closed, lest those who are unqualified gain a foothold (5) while imagining themselves qualified (6), as has indeed happened to many (7) transmitters in former and later times” (8). And Allah is the One who grants success (9).
[Rare Ḥadith Vocabulary]
(If the meaning is obscure)—because the expression is seldom used—one must turn to the specialized works (10) that explain such uncommon terms, such as the book of Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām (11). That work was originally unarranged, but Shaykh Muwaffaq al-Dīn Ibn Qudāmah later organized it alphabetically (12).
(1) MS A reads “yastahdir al-lafz” (he summons the wording), whereas MSS J, H, and T have “mustahdar al-lafz” (the wording is present).
(2) MS H reads “yuqaddim” (he gives priority).
(3) MS J inserts “bi-l-lafz” (verbally).
(4) MS D records the name as “Iyadu” (with a single ḍamma); our text follows MS K.
(5) MS J adds the word “bi-tasallut” (by forceful control).
(6) MS K has “yuzannu” (passive, with ḍamma on the yā’ and fatḥa on the ẓā’), while we adopt the reading of MS W. Al-Qari, Sharh Sharh al-Nukhba, p. 501, explains that the phrase “mimman yadhunnu” is in the active form, meaning “when it predominates in his mind.”
(7) MS A reads “li-l-kathir” (for the many).
(8) See: Ikmal al-Muʿlim by Qadi Iyad, 1:95.
(9) MS T adds “li-l-sawab” (as the correct view). In the margin of MS W, in the author’s own hand, appears: “thumma balagha kadhalik” (it likewise reached later).
(10) MS T reads “al-kitab al-musannaf” (the compiled book).
(11) The person intended is Abu Ubayd al-Qasim b. Sallam al-Harawi (d. 224 AH); see Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ 10:490; al-Subki, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra 7:355. His work Gharib al-Hadith is available in print.
(12) The words “ʿala al-huruf” (arranged alphabetically) are missing from MS T. Ibn Qudama’s book is titled Qinʿat al-Arib fi Tafsir al-Gharib, and it too is in print.