What is intended by saying that the transmitters are two—or more

What is meant by the transmitters being two is that at every link in the chain there are indeed two narrators; if, for example, at even a single point the number drops to one, the report is no longer ʿazīz (supported) but gharīb (singular).

By the same logic, when abundance is stipulated for the mashhūr (well-known) report, it means that at every level there must be more than two narrators.

This is the meaning of their maxim, “in this discipline the smaller number governs the larger,” so take heed.

No contradiction between singularity and authenticity

From what has been explained, it is clear that singularity does not negate soundness; a hadith may be both ṣaḥīḥ and gharīb so long as every individual in its chain is trustworthy.

Gharīb used in the sense of shādh

At times the term gharīb is employed with the meaning of shādh (irregular), that is, a form of irregularity counted among the grounds for criticising a hadith.