So, this is one of the four men.

So, this is one of the four men. And then there is a man who heard something from the Messenger of Allah (S) but did not memorize it as it was and he was uncertain of it and did not intend to tell lies. Thus, this (saying of the Prophet) is in his hands and he narrates and acts according to it and says, ‘I heard it from the Messenger of Allah (S), may Allah have blessing and peace on him and his progeny’.

If Muslims knew that he was uncertain about it, they would not accept from him and if he himself knew that it was so, he would deny it. And a third man is one who heard from the Messenger of Allah (S) something that he - the Prophet (S) ordered people to do, and then he ordered them not to do it, but the man did not know this.

Or he heard the Prophet (S) forbid something and then he permitted it, but the man did not know, so he memorized the abrogated thing and did not memorize that which was forbidden and allowed subsequently. If he knew that it had been abrogated, he would deny it, and if Muslims when hearing from him knew that it was abrogated, they would deny it. And a fourth man is one who fabricated neither against Allah nor against His Messenger (S).

He hates lying for fear of Allah and for glorification of the Messenger of Allah (S), may Allah have blessing and peace on him and his progeny. And he was not uncertain, but he memorized what he heard as it was. He narrated exactly what he heard with neither increase nor decrease. He memorized the abrogating ruling and did according to it, and memorized the abrogated thing and avoided it.

He knew the general and special (rulings) and the clear and the ambiguous, so he put everything in its right place. A speech of the Messenger of Allah (S), may Allah have blessing and peace on him and his progeny might have two aspects – a special meaning and a general meaning. One may hear it and not know what Allah the Almighty has meant nor what the Messenger of Allah (S) has meant by it - and so the hearer interprets it without knowing its actual meaning, purpose and reason.

Not all companions of the Messenger of Allah (S) asked and enquired from the Prophet (S) nor did they wish a nomad or a foreigner to come forward and ask him so that they would hear (the answer). But nothing from him passed by me except that I asked the Prophet (S) about it and memorized it. These are the aspects that people are in disagreements about and have defects in their narrations.