, and he is joined in that (1) by other transmitters from al-Shafiʿi (2), and by still others from Mālik ibn Anas (3); for such a report imparts knowledge to its hearer by inference, owing to the eminent standing of its transmitters, and because the qualities of integrity and precision they possess take the place of a large body of additional narrators (4).

No one with even the slightest (5) practical familiarity (6) with scholarship and with people’s reports would doubt that Mālik—were he, for example, to relate something face-to-face—would be truthful in it. When another person of equal rank is added to him (7), the report gains further strength and the possibility of error becomes even more remote.

These categories we have mentioned (8) yield certain knowledge of a report’s veracity only to one who is learned in ḥadith, deeply versed in it, acquainted with the states of the transmitters, and alert to hidden defects. They do not impart (9) such knowledge (10) to someone who lacks these qualifications. That others fail to reach certainty because they fall short of the aforementioned traits (11) in no way negates the attainment of knowledge by the well-versed specialist. And Allah knows best (12).