Sunan an-Nasa'i
Sunan an-Nasa'i 3214
أَخْبَرَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، قَالَ أَنْبَأَنَا مُعَاذُ بْنُ هِشَامٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَبِي، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنِ الْحَسَنِ، عَنْ سَمُرَةَ بْنِ جُنْدُبٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم . أَنَّهُ نَهَى عَنِ التَّبَتُّلِ . قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ قَتَادَةُ أَثْبَتُ وَأَحْفَظُ مِنْ أَشْعَثَ وَحَدِيثُ أَشْعَثَ أَشْبَهُ بِالصَّوَابِ وَاللَّهُ تَعَالَى أَعْلَمُ .
Ishaq ibn Ibrahim reported to us; he said: Muadh ibn Hisham informed us; he said: my father narrated to me, from Qatadah, from al-Hasan, from Samurah ibn Jundub, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he forbade renouncing marriage. Abu Abd al-Rahman said: Qatadah is more reliable and has a better memory than Ashath, but Ashath’s hadith is closer to what is correct. And Allah, Exalted is He, knows best.
Translation notes
The closing note compares the reliability of Qatadah and Ashath, while judging Ashath’s particular report closer to the correct version.
قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ قَتَادَةُ أَثْبَتُ وَأَحْفَظُ مِنْ أَشْعَثَ وَحَدِيثُ أَشْعَثَ أَشْبَهُ بِالصَّوَابِ وَاللَّهُ تَعَالَى أَعْلَمُ .
The note says Qatadah is more reliable overall but Ashath’s hadith is closer to correct, a distinction between transmitter reliability and this specific report.
Does “Ashath’s hadith is closer to what is correct” best preserve that distinction?