أَمَّا بَعْدُ: فَإِنَّكَ -يَرْحَمُكَ اللَّهُ- بِتَوْفِيقِ خَالِقِكَ ذَكَرْتَ أَنَّكَ هَمَمْتَ بِالْفَحْصِ عَنْ تَعَرُّفِ جُمْلَةِ الْأَخْبَارِ الْمَأْثُورَةِ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فِي سُنَنِ الدِّينِ وَأَحْكَامِهِ،
To proceed: may Allah have mercy on you. Through your Creator’s enabling grace, you mentioned that you intended to examine and become acquainted with the body of reports transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ concerning the practices and rulings of religion.
“Al-faḥṣ” denotes inquiry and examination, not merely copying reports. “Al-akhbār al-maʾthūrah” are reports received through transmission.
The address responds to a scholarly request; Imam Muslim is first defining the requested work, before setting out its detailed selection criteria.