16
Conclusion (1)
• Among the matters that demand careful attention is to know the ranks of the narrators, their years of birth and death (2), their homelands, and their individual states—whether they are judged reliable, criticized, or simply unknown.
The degrees of negative criticism (3) are as follows. The severest is the superlative description (4), such as “the most mendacious of people” (5); after that come labels like “dajjal” (impostor), “fabricator,” or “liar” (6).
The mildest labels are terms such as “layyin” (weak), “poor in memorization,” or “there is the slightest (7) criticism (8) of him.”
As for the levels of commendation (9), the highest is likewise the superlative form, for example: “the most trustworthy (10) of people” (11).
(1) The word “khatimah” (conclusion) is absent from MS Ha, and the copyist left a blank space in its place.
(2) MS Ha reads “and their deaths,” while MS B has “knowledge of the ranks of the hadith transmitters, their clients, and their tribes” instead of “knowledge of the ranks of the narrators, their births, and their deaths.”
(3) The lacuna in MS A ends at this point.
(4) MS Ha has “that which involves exaggeration” in place of “the description with the elative form (afʿal).” The author notes in Nuzhat al-Nazar: “The worst of them is a description that conveys exaggeration.”
(5) MS Ha reads “liar of the people,” and MS D reads “like the most mendacious of people” with the accusative; this is a scribal error.
(6) MS Ha reads “then what is emphatic, such as kadhdhab (inveterate liar), dajjal, then this without emphasis,” instead of “then dajjal, or waddaaʿ (fabricator), or kadhdhab (liar),” and this wording is not mentioned in Nuzhat al-Nazar.
(7) MS W reads “or and lesser” instead of “or in it is something lesser,” MS Z has “and in it is something lesser,” and MS Ha omits the word “adna” (lesser).
(8) MS Ha vocalizes “maqal” with case-ending tanwin in the nominative; the adopted reading follows MSS A, J, D, and W.
(9) MS W reads “and degrees” in the nominative; the accepted reading follows MSS A and D.
(10) MS D vocalizes “awthaq” (more trustworthy) with kasrah or fatha; the preferred reading follows MSS A and W.
(11) MS Ha reads “and the highest of them is that which shows exaggeration, such as ‘the most devout of people,’” instead of “and the highest of them: the description with the elative form (afʿal), such as ‘the most trustworthy of people’,” and this phrasing is not cited by the author in Nuzhat al-Nazar.
خَاتِمَةٌ (١)
* وَمِنَ المُهِمِّ: مَعْرِفَةُ طَبَقَاتِ الرُّوَاةِ وَمَوَالِيدِهِمْ، وَوَفَيَاتِهِمْ (٢)، وَبُلْدَانِهِمْ، وَأَحْوَالِهِمْ - تَعْدِيلاً، وَتَجْرِيحاً، وَجَهَالَةً -.
وَمَرَاتِبِ الجَرْحِ (٣): وَأَسْوَأُهَا: الوَصْفُ بِأَفْعَلَ (٤)؛ كَـ «أَكْذَبِ النَّاسِ» (٥)، ثُمَّ «دَجَّالٌ»، أَوْ «وَضَّاعٌ»، أَوْ «كَذَّابٌ» (٦).
وَأَسْهَلُهَا: «لَيِّنٌ»، أَوْ «سَيِّئُ الحِفْظِ»، أَوْ «فِيهِ أَدْنَى (٧) مَقَالٍ (٨)».
وَمَرَاتِبِ (٩) التَّعْدِيلِ: وَأَرْفَعُهَا: الوَصْفُ بِأَفْعَلَ؛ كَـ «أَوْثَقِ (١٠) النَّاسِ» (١١).
(١) «خَاتِمَةٌ» سقطت من ح، ومكانها بياض.
(٢) في هـ: «ووفاتهم»، وفي ب: «معرفة طباق المحدثين ومواليهم وقبائلهم» بدل «مَعْرِفَةُ طَبَقَاتِ الرُّوَاةِ وَمَوَالِيدِهِمْ، وَوَفَيَاتِهِمْ».
(٣) إلى هنا ينتهي الخرم في أ.
(٤) في هـ: «ما فيه مبالغة» بدل «الوَصْفُ بِأَفْعَلَ». قال المصنِّف ﵀ في نزهة النَّظر -: «وأَسْوَأُهَا: الوَصْفُ بما دلَّ على المُبَالَغَةِ».
(٥) في هـ: «كاذب الناس»، وفي د: «كأكذبَ الناسِ» بالنَّصب؛ وهو وهم.
(٦) في هـ: «ثم ما تأكد ككذَّابٍ دجَّال ثم هذا بلا تأكيد» بدل «ثُمَّ دَجَّالٌ، أَوْ وَضَّاعٌ، أَوْ كَذَّابٌ»، ولم يذكرها المصنِّف في نزهة النَّظر.
(٧) في و: «أو وأدنى» بدل «أَوْ فِيهِ أَدْنَى»، وفي ز: «وفيه أدنى»، و «أَدْنَى» سقطت من ح.
(٨) في هـ: «مقالٌ» بالرَّفع المنوَّن، والضبط المثبت من أ، ج، د، و.
(٩) في و: «ومراتبُ» بالرَّفع، والمثبت من أ، د.
(١٠) في د: «أوثق» بالجرِّ والنَّصب، والمثبت من أ، و.
(١١) في هـ: «وأرفعها ما فيه مبالغةٌ: كأدين الناس» بدل «وَأَرْفَعُهَا: الوَصْفُ بِأَفْعَلَ: كَأَوْثَقِ النَّاسِ»، ولم يذكرها المصنِّف في نزهة النَّظر.