«فَإِنْ قَلَّ عَدَدُهُ أَيْ عَدَدُ رِجَالِ السَّنَدِ»
“If the number, that is, the number of narrators in the chain, is small.”
ʿUluww is comparative: among two routes to a specified point, the route with fewer intermediaries is elevated relative to the other; the other is lower (nāzil).
Example: One student possesses two routes to the same Prophetic report, one involving seven intermediaries and the other nine. On the criterion of narrator count the first has elevation.
This describes the number of links, not necessarily a higher grade of authenticity. Reliability, precision, and defects require their own investigation.