then it is the most reliable of all transmitted accounts.
After that come the narratives recorded by historians, yet whatever the historians relate must be approached with caution, for most historical works possess neither a verifiable foundation nor an authentic chain of transmission; they are simply tales that circulate among people. One must therefore be extremely wary of them and should investigate them gently and carefully.
The reports that are not found in the Quran or the Sunnah fall into three categories:
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The first category consists of reports that our law declares false. These must be rejected, and their error and falsehood must be pointed out so that people may be clearly informed.
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The second category comprises reports confirmed by the Quran and Sunnah. These are accepted because the Quran and Sunnah testify to their soundness.
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The third category includes reports that are neither endorsed nor denied by the Quran or Sunnah. Here one should suspend judgment, for there is no uninterrupted chain of transmission between us and the earlier nations that would allow us to verify what has been narrated about them. Such material—often referred to as Isra’ili reports—is conveyed and examined, but one remains neutral: it is neither affirmed nor denied. That is justice.
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—then alludes to the previously cited hadith, the Prophet’s, peace and blessings be upon him, saying: “The intelligent one is he who calls his soul to account and works for what comes after death, whereas the helpless one is he who lets his soul follow its desires and merely entertains wishful hopes about Allah.”
Al-kayyis (the intelligent one) is the resolute, perceptive, alert person who seizes opportunities; he is the one who holds his soul to account—meaning that he examines it and considers what obligatory acts he has neglected and what prohibitions he has committed,