All praise is due to Allah—Who has never ceased to be All-Knowing (1) and All-Powerful—ever-living, self-subsisting, all-hearing, and all-seeing. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, without partner, and I magnify Him with great exaltation.
May Allah bestow His blessings upon our Master (2) Muhammad, whom He sent (3) to all humankind (4) as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner, and upon the family of Muhammad (5) and his Companions (6), and may He grant them abundant peace (7).
[Compilations on the Science of Hadith Terminology]
To proceed: writings on the terminology of the hadith scholars have become numerous, produced by the leading imams of both earlier and later times. Among the earliest to author in this field was al-Qadi Abu Muhammad al-Ramahurmuzi (8), in his book (9) al-Muhaddith (10) al-Fasil (11); yet he did not cover the subject exhaustively.
(1) In manuscript B the reading is “ʿaliman”.
(2) The word “sayyidina” (our master) is not found in D.
(3) Manuscript K has “arsala”, while a copy with a marginal note reads “arsalah”.
(4) The word “kaffatan” (all) is absent from A.
(5) In A, Ta, K and L the text reads “alihi” in place of “ali Muhammad”. In H it reads “wa ʿala alihi Muhammad”, with the word “Muhammad” crossed out.
(6) The phrase “wa sahbihi” (and his companions) is missing from Z.
(7) The word “tasliman” (and peace) does not appear in Ta.
(8) The person meant is Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Khallad al-Farisi al-Ramahurmuzi, who died shortly before 360 AH in Ramahurmuz; see al-Dhahabi, Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ, 12:171, and al-Safadi, al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat, 12:42.
(9) Manuscript J reads “kitabahu” instead of “fi kitabihi”.
(10) The word “al-muhaddith” (the hadith scholar) is omitted in Ta.
(11) Manuscript J has “al-muhadditha al-fadila”, a scribal error; Z adds “bayna al-rawi wa-l-waʿi”; a marginal note in W explains: “bayna al-rawi wa-l-waʿi—the title of the book.” The full title is al-Muhaddith al-Fasil bayna al-Rawi wa-l-Waʿi; so cited by al-Salafi in Muʿjam al-Safar (p. 27), al-Dhahabi in Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ (16:73), and al-Subki in Muʿjam al-Shuyukh (p. 497). The work is in print.