• In manuscript Z: “End of the work Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar fi Mustalah Ahl al-Athar. Praise belongs to Allah alone, and may Allah bless our master Muhammad, his family and companions, and grant them peace. Its scribe—the servant in need of the mercy of his Independent Lord, Mahmud ibn Ismail al-Ayni—completed it in Shawwal 852 AH, praising Allah, invoking blessings, and uttering hasbala.” • In manuscript Ḥ: “May Allah bless our master Muhammad, his family and companions, and grant them peace. The copying of this blessed manuscript was finished on the blessed Thursday, the 4th of the blessed month of Shaʿban 857 AH, by the servant in need of Allah, hopeful of the pardon of his Almighty Lord, Yahya ibn ʿAbd al-Ghani al-Imam. May Allah forgive him, his parents, all Muslims, and anyone who prays for his forgiveness—amen, amen—and may plentiful, unceasing blessings and peace endure until the Day of Judgement.” At the end of this copy appears, in the hand of the hadith master ʿUthman al-Dimi, a note of reading and authorisation for Badr al-Din ibn Muhammad al-ʿAlai al-Hanafi; it states: “Praise be to Allah, and peace upon His chosen servants. To proceed: The shaykh, imam, scholar and teacher, Badr al-Din ibn Muhammad, son of the shaykh Badr al-Din Ahmad, son of the shaykh ʿAlaʾ al-Din ʿAli al-ʿAlai al-Hanafi—may Allah honour him and make him beneficial—has read to me, with analytical study and verification, the whole of Sharh al-Nukhba by its author, our shaykh, the Shaykh al-Islam, Abu al-Fadl Ahmad ibn ʿAli Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, deriving and imparting benefit. I have authorised him to transmit it from me, just as I received both the text and its commentary from its author, and to teach this commentary to anyone who seeks it. The reading was verified in several sessions, the last of which took place on Thursday, the first day of the auspicious month of Safar al-Khair, 890 AH. I have also granted him permission to relate on my authority everything I possess—whether read, heard, licensed, or compiled—subject to its established conditions. Written and signed by ʿUthman ibn Muhammad al-Dimi—may Allah pardon him.” • In manuscript Ṭ: “The work Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar fi Mustalah Ahl al-Athar, by the eminent scholar, Shaykh al-Islam, Chief Judge, Shihab al-Millah wa al-Din, Abu al-Fadl Ahmad, son of the blessed shaykh Abu al-Hasan ʿAli ibn Muhammad al-Asqalani al-Shafiʿi, known as Ibn Hajar, is hereby completed. Copied by his servant in need of Him, Ahmad ibn ʿAli ibn ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Ansari, later al-Maghrāwi—may Allah make him one of those who act upon their knowledge—on the forenoon of Sunday, 13 Ramadan 869 AH (a). This is my transmission from our shaykh Abu al-Barakat Ibn ʿAzzuz, on the basis of his handing over to me his copy that had been read to the author, together with a licence; he related it to me from its author, the aforementioned Ibn Hajar.” (a) The copyist inverted the digits and wrote 896 AH; the correct date is 869 AH, as shown in the description of the manuscript.