And with this(1) the definition(2) of a mutawātir report has become clear.
Its counterpart may also occur without any fixed limit; yet that happens only when some of the conditions(3) are missing, or when it is restricted to a number(4) greater than two—namely, to three or more(5)—so long as the conditions(6) of tawātur(7) have not all been met; or it may come through the two of them alone(8), that is, by only two narrators, or even by a single narrator.
What we mean by our phrase “that it be transmitted by two”(9) is that it must not be transmitted by fewer than that(10). If, at certain points of a single chain, it is transmitted by more than two, that does not impair it(11), for in this matter the lesser number(12) takes precedence(13) over the greater.
Thus the first category is the mutawātir: it is that which yields certain(14) knowledge, thereby excluding the inferential type—as will be clarified later—provided that its previously mentioned conditions(15) are fulfilled.
(1) J adds the word “taqrir,” while D, Y, and a copy in the margin of K add “al-taqrir.”
(2) D and T read “al-taʿrif.”
(3) The phrase “lakinna maʿa faqdi baʿdi al-shurut” (“but with some of the conditions missing”) is absent from A, H, and T; in the margins of A, J, and D, in the author’s own hand, appears the note: “thumma balagha kadhalik” (“then it likewise reached”).
(4) A alone has “fa-ma.”
(5) T reads “aw bi-thalatha” (“or with three”) instead of “ay: bi-thalathatin fa-saʿidan” (“i.e. with three or more”).
(6) Y reads yajtamiʿ; D records both tajtamiʿ and yajtamiʿ; B and T have yajmaʿ; the word is left unpointed in A, H, M, and L; a marginal copy on M gives tajtamiʿ.
(7) B and J read “al-mutawatir”; the margin of D, in the author’s hand, notes: “thumma balagha kadhalik.”
(8) In T the spot where “aw bihima” (“or by both”) should appear is blank.
(9) A, H, T, and K insert “ay.”
(10) The particle “an” is missing in A, H, T, and K.
(11) L reads “lam.”
(12) B, D, H, M, and copies on the margins of J and L add the word “al-ʿilm.”
(13) J reads “yuqda.”
(14) B vocalizes “al-ʿilma” (accusative).
(15) The phrase “bi-shurutihi” (“with its conditions”) is left blank in T.