authorship, and other qualities that tip the scale in favor of one narrator over another—men such as Shuʿbah, Mālik, al-Thawrī, al-Shāfiʿī, al-Bukhārī, Muslim, and their peers. (1)

Absolute Elevation
The first category—namely, a chain that terminates with the Prophet ﷺ—is called “absolute elevation.” If its isnād also happens to be sound, this is the very highest goal. (2) Should that not be the case, the outward form of elevation is still present so long as the report is not fabricated; otherwise, it is effectively worthless. (3)

Relative Elevation
The second category is “relative elevation”: this is where the number of transmitters in one’s chain down to a particular imām is small, even though from that imām to the end of the chain the number may be large.

The later scholars showed an intense preference for this type, so much so that it dominated the work of many of them and they neglected matters of greater importance.

Elevation came to be sought after because it is nearer to soundness and involves fewer chances of error; every narrator in an isnād is liable to err, and the more intermediaries there are and the longer the chain, the more potential points of error arise, whereas the fewer the intermediaries, the fewer those possibilities become. (4)

Yet should a descending chain possess some advantage not found in the elevated one—such as if (6)