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As for the relative singular report (1): if another narrator concurs with it, that is (2) the mutābiʿ (3) —a corroborating narration. Should a similar wording be found (4), it is deemed a shāhid, a supporting report. The effort to trace the various transmission routes (5) for this purpose is called iʿtibār, the comparative examination of chains.
(1) MS Ha reads “wa-al-mufrad” (and the solitary).
(2) MS B has “huwa,” without the prefixed fa.
(3) MS Z gives “al-tabi” (the follower), which is an error; MS Ha records “al-mutabaʿ” with a fatḥa on the ba, while the vocalisation adopted from MSS B and D—“al-mutabi” with a kasra beneath the ba—agrees with the author’s own wording in Nuzhat al-Nazar (“with the ba pronounced with a kasra”).
(4) MS Z reads “bi-shibhihi” (by its resemblance), whereas MS H has “yushabihuhu” (it resembles it).
(5) MS H reads “al-turuqu” (the chains of transmission) in the nominative case, which is incorrect.
وَالفَرْدُ (١) النِّسْبِيُّ: إِنْ وَافَقَهُ غَيْرُهُ: فَهُوَ (٢) المُتَابِعُ (٣).
وَإِنْ وُجِدَ مَتْنٌ يُشْبِهُهُ (٤): فَهُوَ الشَّاهِدُ.
وَتَتَبُّعُ الطُّرُقِ (٥) لِذَلِكَ: هُوَ الِاعْتِبَارُ.
(١) في هـ: «والمفرد».
(٢) في ب: «هو» من غير فاء.
(٣) في ز: «التَّابع»؛ وهو وهم، وفي هـ: «المتابَع» بفتح الباء، والضبط المثبت من ب، د، وهو الموافق لقول المصنِّف ﵀ في نزهة النَّظر-: «بكسر الموحَّدة».
(٤) في ز: «بشبهه»، وفي ح: «يشابهه».
(٥) في ح: «الطرقُ» بالرَّفعِ؛ وهو وهم.