[The Formulas of Transmission and Their Levels]
(And the transmission formulas) that were referred to (1) earlier (2) are divided into eight (3) ranks:

First: “I heard” (samiʿtu) and “He related to me” (ḥaddathanī).

Then: “He informed me” (akhbaranī) and “I read to him” (qara’tu ʿalayhi); this is the second rank.

Then: “It was read to him while I was listening” (quriʾa ʿalayhi wa-anā asmaʿ); this is the third.

Then: “He apprised me” (anbaʾanī); this is the fourth.

Then: “He handed it to me” (nāwalani); this is the fifth.

Then: “He authorized me face-to-face” (shāfahanī)—i.e., by ijāzah; this is the sixth.

Then: “He wrote to me” (kataba ilayya)—i.e., by ijāzah (4); this is the seventh.

Then: “From” (ʿan) and similar formulas that can denote direct audition (5), ijāzah (6), or even the absence of audition, such as (7): “he said,” “he mentioned,” and “he narrated.”