Ibn Abi Layla, may Allah have mercy on him, says: We used to go to Sayyiduna Zaid bin Arqam, may Allah be pleased with him, and say: "Narrate to us from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him." (So he would narrate, but when he became old,) he used to say: "Indeed, we have grown old and have forgotten, and narrating the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, is a serious matter."

Mutarrif bin Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Sayyiduna Imran bin Husain (may Allah be pleased with him) said to me: "O Mutarrif! By Allah! I used to think that if I narrated the ahadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for two consecutive days, there would not be a need to repeat a hadith a second time. But then I noticed that laziness began to overcome me and I started to dislike this, and the reason is that some of the companions (may Allah be pleased with them) used to attend the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as I did and used to hear the ahadith as I did, but when they narrate the ahadith, they are not as I narrate them, and I also know that they do not fall short in goodness. Now I fear that perhaps the matter (of ahadith) may become confused for me as it became confused for them." Sometimes Sayyiduna Imran (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: "If I tell you that I heard such and such ahadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), then I would think that I am telling the truth," and sometimes he would say with great determination: "I heard the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say such and such."

(Abu Abdur Rahman Abdullah, the son of Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, says: Mutarrif narrated from Sayyiduna Imran bin Husain, may Allah be pleased with him, and he narrated a similar hadith from the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Then I narrated this hadith to my father (Imam Ahmad), and he considered it good. However, Abdullah added one narrator (Hani’ A’war) in it.)

Ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Whenever Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) finished narrating a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he would say: «أَوْ کَمَا قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰہِ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم » (or as the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, has said.)

It is narrated from Sulaiman Yashkari, may Allah have mercy on him, that Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, used the word "Yatawakha" regarding doubt occurring in prayer. A man asked him, "Is this being narrated from the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him?" He replied, "To the best of my knowledge, this is the case."

It is narrated from Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she says: "Does Abu Huraira not amaze you? He came and sat in a corner of my room and, while I was performing voluntary prayer, he began narrating the sayings of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to me. Then he left before I finished my prayer. If I had caught him, I would have refuted him. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not speak continuously like you do."

Sayyiduna Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) says:“We did not hear all these ahadith directly from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); our companions would narrate to us from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), because we used to be occupied with herding camels.”

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Humayd and Sayyiduna Abu Usaid (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When you hear a hadith attributed to me (then see whether) your hearts are familiar with it, and your hair and skin become soft for it, and you see that you too could say such a thing, then I am most deserving of having said such (a hadith). But if you see that the hadith attributed to me is being rejected by your hearts, and your hair and skin feel aversion to it, and you see that you could not say such a thing, then I am the farthest from it."

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When you narrate a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)," and in another narration: "When I narrate to you any hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), then consider that statement as a hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) which is more guiding, better in manner, and more pious."

(Second chain) There is a similar narration, except that it contains these words: "Whatever is more pleasant, more pious, and more guided, consider it to be the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him."