his footsteps, (1) to the point that al-Dāraqutnī (2) declared, “Had it not been for al-Bukhārī, Muslim would neither have set out nor returned!” (3).
[The Categories of Ṣaḥīḥ Ḥadith in Order of Authenticity]
Consequently (4)—that is, on the basis of this consideration (5), namely the superiority of al-Bukhārī’s criterion over that of anyone else—Sahih al-Bukhārī was given precedence over every other hadith compilation (6).
Next comes Sahih Muslim, because it shares with al-Bukhārī (7) the scholars’ unanimous acceptance of the book as a whole, apart from the narrations that have been critiqued.
After that, the work accorded precedence in terms of greater authenticity is whatever conforms to (their shared criterion); for what is meant thereby is transmitters who meet their standard together with the rest of the conditions required for a ṣaḥīḥ report (8),
(1) The word laqad (indeed) is absent from MSS B, H, L, and M.
(2) The reference is to Abu al-Hasan ʿAli ibn ʿUmar ibn Ahmad al-Daraqutni, the hadith master (d. 385 AH), author of the Sunan, the ʿIlal, and other works; see Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ, 16:449.
(3) In the margin of MS A, in the author’s own hand, it reads: “Then it likewise reached.” Al-Khatib reproduces al-Daraqutni’s statement in Tarikh Baghdad, 15:124.
(4) MS Z reads thamma (“there”).
(5) MSS B, C, D, H, Ṭ, Y, L, and M read al-jihah (“the direction/side”).
(6) The phrase fi al-hadith (“in the hadith”) is missing from MS H. In the margin of MS W, in the author’s handwriting, appears: “Then it reached after a reading and discussion with me. Written by Ibn Hajar.” In the margin of MS M, also in his hand: “It reached Shaykh Fakhr al-Din ʿUmar ibn Muhammad after a reading and discussion with me. Written by its author.”
(7) MS Ṭ reads al-Bukhari.
(8) As the author explains in al-Nukat, 1:314: “The requirement is that the isnad (chain of transmission) of the hadith one cites consist entirely of narrators whose reliability is accepted in the two Sahihs—or in either of them collectively—and that it be free of any ʿillah (hidden defect).”