Benefits of the Hadith: (… He said: “You have spoken the truth. If I were closer to her, or if I could enter upon her, I would have gone to her until she conveyed it to me directly.”)

The Shaykh : It also contains what occurred with Ibn Abbas, where he said to the man “Tell me what you are saying”, so the man came to him and informed him, and then Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) affirmed his statement and said “If I were closer to her, or if I could enter upon her, I would have gone to her until she conveyed it to me directly”. In this is the seeking of a high chain of narration, because Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) was the one who sent the man to her, so there was an intermediary between them; but if he had heard it directly from her, there would have been no intermediary. In this is evidence for what the scholars of hadith hold regarding the seeking of a high chain of narration. A high chain of narration means a small number of narrators in the path, and it is known that a high chain of narration is closer to validity than
The student: a low chain of narration.

The Shaykh : a low chain of narration, because the more intermediaries there are, the more likely error is to occur, and when they are few, it is safer.

The Shaykh : Allah is the Greatest.