(1) In manuscripts J, D, H and W the word appears as “ubhimat” (was left vague); the reading adopted here—found in B, Z and K—differs. Al-Qari notes in Sharh Sharh al-Nukhba, p. 185: “What I meant was abhamtu, i.e., I myself left it undefined.” (2) Manuscripts A, T, Y and K read “tawatur” (mass-transmission). (3) Manuscript L has “yatruk” (he omits) in the active voice. (4) Manuscript H reads “sifati” (of attributes) in the genitive, whereas the preferred text follows D and K. (5) Manuscript J gives “wa-siyagh” (and of formulations) in the genitive; the reading followed here is that of B and K. (6) Manuscript H reads “al-ilm” (knowledge). (7) A marginal note in manuscript A, written in the author’s own hand, adds: “Then it likewise reached.” (8) See his introduction, p. 269. (9) The verb ʿazza yaʿizzu means “to become so rare that it is scarcely found”; see al-Azhari, Tahdhib al-Lugha 1:64. (10) Manuscript D has “kadh-dhaba,” with a doubled dhal. (11) The hadith under discussion is mutawatir: many Companions transmitted it. Al-Tabarani even compiled a separate treatise on its chains from sixty Companions. Al-Bukhari recorded it under no. 106, and Muslim, in his Introduction, under no. 1, on the authority of Ali. Both of them also narrated it from Anas (nos. 108 and 2), from Abu Hurayra (nos. 110 and 3), and from al-Mughira b. Shuʿba (nos. 1291 and 4). Al-Bukhari alone related it from al-Zubayr b. al-Awwam (107), Salama b. al-Akwaʿ (109), and ʿAbd Allah b. ʿAmr (3461); Muslim alone recorded it from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri (3004)—may Allah be pleased with them all.