Hadith #209

Arabic Text

English Translation

Ismā‘īl narrated to us: Abū Hārūn al-Ghanawī narrated to us, from Mutarrif, who said: ‘Imrān ibn Husayn said to me: O Mutarrif, by Allāh, I used to think that if I wished, I could narrate from the Prophet ﷺ of Allāh ﷺ for two consecutive days without repeating a hadith. But what has made me slow and reluctant about that is that some men from the Companions of Muhammad ﷺ — or some of them — witnessed what I witnessed and heard what I heard, yet they narrate hadiths that are not as they say. I know they do not lie intentionally, but I fear that something may appear similar to me as it appeared to them. So sometimes he would say: If I told you I heard such-and-such from the Prophet ﷺ of Allāh ﷺ, I would consider myself truthful. And sometimes he would resolve firmly and say: I heard the Prophet ﷺ of Allāh ﷺ say such-and-such. Abū Abd al-Rahmān said: Nasr ibn ‘Alī narrated to me: Bishr ibn al-Mufaddal narrated to us, from Abū Hārūn al-Ghanawī, who said: Hāni’ al-A‘war narrated to me, from Mutarrif, from ‘Imrān — that is, Ibn Husayn — from the Prophet ﷺ, similarly. I narrated it to my father, may Allāh have mercy on him, and he found it excellent, saying: He added a man in the chain.