consists of the actual text of what Muhammad is reported to have said or done. This is called the matu or text.
The Traditions were at first handed down orally from one generation to the next, and it was not until more than a century had passed away after the death of Muḥammad that any attempt was made to collect and reduce them to writing. Since that time, however, very numerous collections of Traditions have been made, amounting, according to the Itháíuʾn-Nubala, to no less than 1465 different collections. By general consent six collections have come to be accepted as of paramount authority and value amongst Sunni Muslims. These are the collections of Al-Buḵẖárí who died in 256 A.H., Muslim who died in 260 A.H., Abú Dáud who died in 275 A.H. Ibn Májah who died in 273 A.H., At-Tirmiḏẖí who died in 299 {AH}}, and An-Nasáʾi who died in 303 A.H. These six great collections are known to-day as the Al-Kutubuʾs-sitta, 'the six (correct) books', and arc universally revered by Sunnis all over the world. They are not all regarded as of equal authority, however, for the first two are considered as of pre-eminent authority and are known as ṣaḥiḥ, sound or authentic, whilst the others are simply called sunun, usages, or ḥasan, good.
As hundreds of Traditions are found repeated in more than one of the above-mentioned collections, efforts have been made from time to time to eliminate repetition and at the same time secure a trustworthy and thoroughly representative collection of Traditions by compiling, from these six, one standard and authoritative collection. One of the most famous of such compilations, or reductions, is that known as the Mishkátuʾl-Maṣábíḥ from which the present selection has been drawn. This work, originally called the Maṣábíh, was compiled by Imám Abá Muḥammad al-Ḥusain ibn Masʿúd al-Firáiʾ of Baghdad, who died in 516 A.H.. It contained 4,484 Traditions, of which 2,434 were ṣaḥiḥ and the rest ḥasan. The compiler, besides making use of the 'six (correct) books' mentioned above, also used a few other well-known collections such as those of Al-Dáraqutni, Al-Baihaqi, Al-Dárimi and Razán. In the year 737 A.H. Shaiḵẖ Waliyuʾd-Dín Abú ʿAbduʾlláh Maḥmúd revised and enlarged the Maṣábíh, adding another chapter
