radiant, their virtues widespread, their signs evident, their paths clear, and their proofs compelling. Every group gravitates towards a desire they return to and admire an opinion they adhere to, except the people of ḥadīth, for the Book is their provision, the sunnah their proof, the Messenger their group, and to him they are attributed. They do not incline towards desires, nor do they pay attention to opinions. What they narrate from the Messenger is accepted, and they are the trustworthy and just. They are the preservers and guardians of the religion, the vessels and carriers of knowledge. When there is a disagreement in a ḥadīth, the return is to them, and what they judge is accepted and heard. Among them are every knowledgeable jurist, a high-ranking and distinguished leader, an ascetic in a tribe, one endowed with virtue, a proficient reciter, and an eloquent preacher. They are the great multitude, and their path is the straight path. Every innovator is exposed by their belief, and none dare openly express views contrary to theirs. Whoever plots against them, Allāh will break them, and whoever opposes them, Allāh will forsake them. Those who abandon them do not harm them, and those who separate from them do not succeed. The cautious in their religion are in need of their guidance, and the vision of those who look at them with malice is impaired, and indeed, Allāh is capable of granting them victory. (Then he narrated the ḥadīth from the narration of Qurrah, then he narrated with his isnād from ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī that he said: They are the people of ḥadīth who uphold the practices of the Messenger and defend knowledge. Without them, you would not find among the Muʿtazilah, Rāfiḍah, Jahmiyyah, Murjiʾah, and the people of opinion anything from the sunnah: al-Khaṭīb said) Thus, the Lord of the worlds has made the victorious group the guardians of the religion, and He has turned away the plots of the opposers from them, due to their adherence to the firm sharīʿah and their following the traces of the Companions and the Followers. Their concern is preserving the traditions, traversing deserts and wastelands, and crossing lands and seas to acquire what the chosen Messenger legislated, not deviating from it to opinion or desire. They accepted his sharīʿah in word and deed, and they protected his sunnah through preservation and transmission, until they established its foundation, and they were most deserving of it and its people. How many heretics attempt to mix with the sharīʿah what is not from it, and Allāh defends it through the people of ḥadīth, for they are the guardians
زاهرة، وفضائلهم سائرة، وآياتهم باهرة، ومذاهبهم ظاهرة، وحججهم قاهرة. وكل فئة تتحيز إلى هوى ترجع إليه، وتستحسن رأي تعكف عليه، سوى أصحاب الحديث، فإن الكتاب عدتهم، والسنة حجتهم، والرسول فئتهم، وإليه نسبتهم، لا يعرجون على الأهواء، ولا يلتفتون إلى الآراء. يقبل منهم ما رووا عن الرسول، وهم المأمونون عليه العدول. حفظة الدين وخزنته، وأوعية العلم وحملته، إذا اختلف في حديث كان إليهم الرجوع، فما حكموا به فهو المقبول المسموع. منهم كل عالم فقيه، وإمام رفيع نبيه، وزاهد في قبيلة، ومخصوص بفضيلة، وقارىء متقن، وخطيب محسن. وهم الجمهور العظيم وسبيلهم السبيل المستقيم، وكل مبتدع باعتقادهم يتظاهر، وعلى الإفصاح بغير مذاهبهم لا يتجاسر، من كادهم قصمهم الله، ومن عاندهم خذله الله، لا يضرهم من خذلهم، ولا يفلح من اعتزلهم، المحتاط لدينه إلى إرشادهم فقير، وبصر الناظر بالسوء إليهم حسير، وإن الله على نصرهم لقدير. (ثم ساق الحديث من رواية قرة ثم روى بسنده عن علي بن المديني أنه قال: هم أهل الحديث والذين يتعاهدون مذاهب الرسول، ويذبون عن العلم لولاهم لم تجد عند المعتزلة والرافضة والجهمية وأهل الإرجاء والرأي شيئا من السنن: قال الخطيب) فقد جعل رب العالمين الطائفة المنصورة حراس الدين، وصرف عنهم كيد العاندين، لتمسكهم بالشرع المتين، واقتفائهم آثار الصحابة والتابعين، فشأنهم حفظ الآثار، وقطع المفاوز والقفار، وركوب البراري والبحار في اقتباس ما شرع الرسول المصطفى، لا يعرجون عنه إلى رأي ولا هوى. قبلوا شريعته قولا وفعلا، وحرسوا سنته حفظا ونقلا، حتى ثبتوا بذلك أصلها، وكانوا أحق بها وأهلها، وكم من ملحد يروم أن يخلط بالشريعة ما ليس منها، والله تعالى يذب بأصحاب الحديث عنها، فهم الحفاظ.