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So I say:
A khabar (report) may possess multiple chains of transmission (1) with no fixed number (2); it may be restricted (3) to more than two chains, to exactly two, or to a single chain.
- The first category is the mutawātir (mass-transmitted) report, which—when its conditions are met—conveys certain knowledge.
- The second is the mashhūr (well-known) report, also called the mustafīd (4) according to one opinion.
- The third (5) is the ʿazīz (dual-supported) report, and it is not a prerequisite for soundness, contrary to those who have claimed otherwise.
- The fourth is the gharīb (singular) report.
All of these—apart from the first—are aḥād (solitary reports).
Within them are reports that are accepted as well as those that are rejected (6), for employing them as evidence (7) depends on examining the condition of their transmitters—unlike the first (8). Nonetheless, some of them, on the preferred view, may convey inferential knowledge when accompanied by corroborating indicators.
(1) Manuscript J reads “taraf,” which is a scribal error; manuscript H has “yurad min turuqin” (is transmitted through various chains) instead of “yakunu lahu turuq” (has several chains).
(2) Manuscripts B and W insert the additional word “hasr” (restriction).
(3) The word “hasrin” (restriction) is omitted in W.
(4) Manuscript B has “wa-l-mustafid,” whereas J reads “al-mustafizh” with the letter za. Al-Razi, Mukhtar al-Sihah, root F-Y-D, p. 245, defines mustafid as “widely circulated among the people.”
(5) Manuscript H reads “al-thalith” (the third).
(6) Manuscript W adds: “and among them is the rejected (al-mardud).”
(7) Manuscript J has “bihima” (with both of them); the adopted reading agrees with the author’s commentary.
(8) The phrase “duna al-awwal” (excluding the first) is absent from B.
فَأَقُولُ:
* الخَبَرُ: إِمَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُ طُرُقٌ (١) بِلَا (٢) عَدَدٍ مُعَيَّنٍ، أَوْ مَعَ حَصْرٍ (٣) بِمَا فَوْقَ الِاثْنَيْنِ، أَوْ بِهِمَا، أَوْ بِوَاحِدٍ:
فَالأَوَّلُ: المُتَوَاتِرُ، المُفِيدُ لِلْعِلْمِ اليَقِينِيِّ بِشُرُوطِهِ.
وَالثَّانِي: المَشْهُورُ، وَهُوَ المُسْتَفِيضُ (٤) - عَلَى رَأْيٍ -.
وَالثَّالِثُ (٥): العَزِيزُ، وَلَيْسَ شَرْطاً لِلصَّحِيحِ - خِلَافاً لِمَنْ زَعَمَهُ -.
وَالرَّابِعُ: الغَرِيبُ.
وَكُلُّهَا - سِوَى الأَوَّلِ - آحَادٌ.
وَفِيهَا المَقْبُولُ وَالمَرْدُودُ (٦)؛ لِتَوَقُّفِ الِاسْتِدْلَالِ بِهَا (٧) عَلَى البَحْثِ عَنْ أَحْوَالِ رُوَاتِهَا - دُونَ الأَوَّلِ (٨) -، وَقَدْ يَقَعُ فِيهَا مَا يُفِيدُ العِلْمَ النَّظَرِيَّ بِالقَرَائِنِ - عَلَى المُخْتَارِ-.
(١) في ج: «طرف»؛ وهو تصحيف، وفي هـ: «يرد من طرقٍ» بدل «يَكُونَ لَهُ طُرُقٌ».
(٢) في ب، و زيادة: «حصر».
(٣) «حَصْرٍ» سقطت من و.
(٤) في ب: «والمستفيض»، وفي ج: «المُسْتَفِيظُ» بالظاء. قال الرَّازي ﵀ في مختار الصِّحاح مادَّة: ف ي ض (ص ٢٤٥) -: «مُسْتَفِيضٌ؛ أي: مُنْتَشِرٌ في النَّاس».
(٥) في هـ: «الثالث».
(٦) في و: «وفيها المردود».
(٧) في ج: «بهما»، والمُثْبَتُ موافق لشرح المُصنِّف.
(٨) «دُونَ الأَوَّلِ» سقطت من ب.