فلو لا ترجيح قراءة الشيخ على قراءة الراوي لأمره بترك القراءة عند التضجر و قراءة الراوي مع سماعه إياه و لا خلاف في أنه يجوز للسامع أن يقول في الأول حدثنا و أنبأنا و سمعته يقول و قال لنا و ذكر لنا هذا كان في الصدر الأول ثم شاع تخصيص أخبرنا بالقراءة على الشيخ و أنبأنا و نبأنا بالإجازة و في الثاني المشهور جواز قول أخبرني و حدثني مقيدين بالقراءة على الشيخ و ما ينقل عن السيد من منعه مقيدا أيضا بعيد و اختلف في الإطلاق فجوزه بعضهم و منعه آخرون و فصل ثالث فجوز أخبرني و منع حدثني و استند إلى أن الشائع في استعمال أخبرني هو قراءته على الشيخ و في استعمال حدثني هو سماعه عنه و في كون الشياع دليلا على المنع من غير الشائع نظر.
Had the shaykh's recitation not had precedence over the narrator's recitation, the Imam, peace be upon him, would have ordered him, when wearied, to leave off reciting and would have said that hearing the narrator's recitation suffices; but the Imam, peace be upon him, gave no such instruction. Yet there is no disagreement that it is permissible for the hearer, in the first case, to say: "he related to us", "he informed us", or "I heard him say: he related to us", and "he said", and "he mentioned to us" — all these expressions were current in the first age of Islam; but in later times what is meant by "akhbarana" is the narrator's reciting and reading to the shaykh, and what is meant by "anba'ana" and "nabba'ana" is a licence to relate. And in the second case, according to the well-known view, it is permissible to say "he informed me" and "he related to me by recitation to the shaykh", restricting it to recitation to the shaykh. It is related from al-Sayyid that relating in this case is not permissible even with the restriction of recitation to the shaykh — and such a statement from al-Sayyid is unlikely. But as for saying "he informed me" and "he related to me" absolutely, without restricting it to recitation to the shaykh, some have held it permissible and some forbidden, while a group have made a distinction, holding "akhbarani" permissible and "haddathani" forbidden, since "akhbarani" is much used for reciting to the shaykh, while "haddathani" is commonly used where the narrator hears the hadith from the shaykh. But it must be noted that commonness and frequency of usage cannot be a proof forbidding a case that is not common.
ثم إن صيغة حدثني و شبهها فيما يكون الراوي متفردا في المجلس و حدثنا و أخبرنا فيما يكون مجتمعا مع غيره و هذان قسمان من أقسامها.
"Haddathani" and the like are used where the narrator is alone in the gathering, while "haddathana" and "akhbarana" are used where the narrator is together with others.
و بعدهما الإجازة سواء كان معينا لمعين كإجازة الكافي لشخص معين أو معينا لغير معين كإجازته لكل أحد أو غير معين لمعين كأجزتك مسموعاتي أو غير معين لغير معين كأجزت كل أحد مسموعاتي كما حكي عن بعض أصحابنا أنه أجاز على هذا الوجه.
The third way is "ijaza" (licence), whether a specified person licenses a specified person, or a specified person licenses an unspecified person — the first case being like licensing al-Kafi to a specified person, and the second like licensing it to anyone; or an unspecified thing is licensed to a specified person, as when he says: I have licensed you to relate what I have heard; or an unspecified thing to an unspecified person, as when he says: I have licensed anyone to relate what I have heard. This last kind some of our companions have permitted; but there is difficulty in licensing one who does not yet exist, unless he is joined to one existing. As for licensing one who does not discriminate, such as small children, the well-known view is that it is permissible.
و في إجازة المعدوم نظر إلا مع عطفه على الموجود و أما غير المميز كالأطفال الصغيرة فالمشهور الجواز ١ و في جواز إجازة المجاز وجهان للأصحاب و الأصح الجواز.
It must be noted: may one who himself holds a licence to relate grant a licence to others? There are two views, the sounder being the permissibility of such cases.
و أفضل أقسامها ما كانت على وفق صحيحة ابن سنان المتقدمة بأن يقرأ عليه من أوله حديثا و من وسطه حديثا و من آخره حديثا ثم يجيزه بل الأولى الاقتصار عليه و يحتمل أن يكون المراد بالأول و الوسط و الآخر الحقيقي منها أو الأعم منه و من الإضافي و الثاني أظهر و إن كان رعاية الأول أحوط و أولی.
And the best of the ways is to act according to the sound report of Ibn Sinan: that a hadith from the beginning, a hadith from the middle and a hadith from the end be recited to the shaykh, and then he grants the licence. And in this sound report it may be that what is meant by the beginning, the end and the middle is their literal sense, or something more general than the literal and the relative; the second sense is more apparent, but observing the first is more in keeping with caution.