一般而言，保存圣训采用了三种方法：

Generally, three methods were used to preserved úódõth:

第一种方法是记诵。阿拉伯人以记忆力著称，尤其擅长背诵长篇诗歌，连同诗人的生平传记一起记住。他们能够回忆出诗人祖先的长长名单及其世系。不仅如此，阿拉伯人还记诵自己马匹的血统，甚至马的步态。因此，成千上万的名字都烂熟于心，而通过圣训的福泽，真主（SWT）又增益了他们在记诵方面的造诣。

The first method was memorization. The Arabs were renowned for their memories, particularly their ability to memorize long poems along with the biographies of their authors. They could recollect long lists of the names of poets’ forefathers and their lineages. Not only that, the Arabs also memorized the lineage of their horses, even the horse’s gaits. Thus, thousands of names were at the tip of their tongues, and through the blessings of the Ahadith Allah (SWTH) added to their proficiency in the art of memorization.

这种保存圣训的简便方法不可忽视,尤其是当伊玛目布哈里等杰出人物记录了马尔万的事迹时,这些事迹说明了阿拉伯人非凡的记忆力。马尔万是大马士革的第一任总督,也是倭马亚王朝的第一任埃米尔。他的秘书阿布·al-扎扎(Abū al-Za‘za)叙述说,马尔万曾召见杰出的圣门弟子艾布·胡莱赖(Abū Huraira)到他的宫廷。据说,马尔万之所以如此罕见地召见一位圣门弟子到他的宫廷,是因为他怀疑艾布·胡莱赖所记住并频繁叙述的大量圣训。艾布·胡莱赖进来之前,马尔万吩咐他的秘书阿布·al-扎扎躲在帷幔后面,手里拿着笔和纸。他说:“我要请他叙述一些圣训;他叙述的时候,我要你把所有圣训都记下来。”艾布·胡莱赖进来后,马尔万向他询问一些圣训。艾布·胡莱赖开始叙述时,阿布·al-扎扎便把它们写了下来。阿布·al-扎扎说:“艾布·胡莱赖叙述了很长时间,我看到我的纸上已经记录了大量圣训。”从阿布·al-扎扎的话“úadõthun kathõrun”(大量圣训)来看,他确实在纸上记录了大量圣训。与此同时,艾布·胡莱赖并不知道自己正在接受考验。此后,艾布·胡莱赖离开了。马尔万保存了这些秘密记录的圣训卷册,并等待来年。一年后,马尔万再次邀请艾布·胡莱赖光临。马尔万again吩咐阿布·al-扎扎躲在帷幔后面,带着前一年记录圣训的纸张。他说:“我要重复去年问过的同样问题。你核对一下,看看与去年的圣训是否相符。”这对艾布·胡莱赖来说是一次即兴的考验。阿布·al-扎扎说:“于是马尔万手里拿着一年前的圣训。一年后,他再次召见艾布·胡莱赖,而我静静地坐在帷幔后面。” 他提出问题时，我查看了我的资料。他对一段圣训中的哪怕一个字，也没有增加或减少。8

This simple method of preserving úadīth cannot be ignored, especially when eminent personalities like Imam Bukhari have recorded incidents such as that of Marwan, which illustrate the extraordinary memory of the Arabs. Marwan was the first governor of Damascus and also the first emir of the Umayyad Dynasty. His secretary, Abñ al-Za‘za, narrates that once Marwón called the eminent Sahabi, Abñ Huraira , to his court. It is said that the reason behind this rare invitation of a Sahabi to Marwan’s court was that Marwan doubted the large number of ahadith Abñ Huraira had memorized and frequently narrated. Before Abñ Huraira entered, Marwan instructed his secretary, Abñ al-Za‘za, to hide behind a curtain with a pen and paper in his hand. He said, “I am going to ask him to narrate some aúódõth; while he narrates, I want you to pen all the aúódõth down.” When Abñ Huraira entered, Marwón asked him about some aúódõth. As Abñ Huraira began narrating, Abñ al-Za‘za wrote them down. Abñ al-Za‘za says, “Abñ Huraira continued narrating for a long time and I saw that I had written a large collection of aúódõth on my papers.” It seems from Abñ al-Za‘za’s words “úadõthun kathõrun” that he had indeed recorded a large collection of aúódõth on his paper. Meanwhile, Abñ Huraira had no idea he was being tested. After this, Abñ Huraira left. Marwón preserved the scrolls of the secretly recorded Hadith and waited for the following year. A year later, Marwan again invited Abñ Huraira to honor him with his presence. Once again, Marwan told Abñ al-Za‘za to hide behind the curtain with the papers on which he had written the aúódõth the previous year. He said, “I am going to repeat the same questions I asked last year. Check and see if it coincides with the aúódõth of the previous year.” It was an extemporaneous test for Abñ Huraira. Abñ al-Za‘za says, “So Marwón kept the year old aúódõth in his hands. After one year, he again called upon Abñ Huraira as I sat quietly behind the curtain. As he put the questions, I looked into my papers. He did not add to or subtract from even one word of a Hadīth.”8

虽然无法确定所记录圣训的确切数目，但可以清楚地看到，其数量相当可观。同一时期还发生过一件类似的事情，涉及伊本·舍哈卜·祖赫里。希沙姆·本·阿卜杜勒·马立克召见了伊本·舍哈卜入宫。在这一事件中，明确提到伊本·舍哈卜恰好讲述了四百条圣训。

Though it is not possible to ascertain the exact number of Ahadith noted, it is clear that it was a significant number. A similar incident occurred with Ibn Shihób al-Zuhrõ during the same time period. Hishóm ibn ‘Abd al-Malik called Ibn Shihab to his court. In this incident, it is clearly mentioned that Ibn Shihab narrated exactly four hundred Ahadith.

据历史书记载，希沙姆也曾像麦尔旺考验艾卜·胡莱赖那样，考验过伊本·祖赫赖的记忆。故事是这样的：

It is also mentioned in the books of history that Hisham tested Ibn Zuhra’s memory as Marwan had Abñ Huraira’s. The story goes like this:

一天，伊本·沙哈卜因事来到宫廷。希沙姆亲自请求伊本·沙哈卜为他的儿子——王子——撰写一些圣训。伊本·沙哈卜答应了；于是传唤了一位书记员，口述便开始了。宰哈比写道：“伊本·沙哈卜为王子口述了四百条圣训。”

One day, Ibn Shihób came to the court for something. Hishóm personally requested Ibn Shihób to write some aúódõth for his son, the prince. Ibn Shihób accepted; a scribe was called in and the dictation began. Dhahabõ writes, “Ibn Shihab dictated four hundred aúódõth to the prince.”.

然后，伊本·沙哈卜离开了。一个月后伊本·沙哈卜再次返回时，希沙姆假装懊悔，对伊本·沙哈卜说：“我很难过地告诉你，记录圣训的羊皮纸不见了，怎么也找不到。”伊本·沙哈卜问：“这有什么好哭的？叫抄写员来，我再口述给你们。”这正是希沙姆的目的。他立即命令抄写员到宫中来。伊本·沙哈卜把同样的圣训重新口述了一遍。最初的那部圣训集其实并没有真的丢失，那不过是一个圈套，用来考验伊本·沙哈卜对圣训的记忆。伊本·沙哈卜离开宫廷后，希沙姆将旧的抄本与新的抄本进行了比对，发现新的抄本与原本的圣训集相比没有任何改动。9

Then Ibn Shihób left. When Ibn Shihób returned a month later, Hishóm feigned remorse by saying to Ibn Shihób, “I am saddened to tell you that the parchments on which the aúódõth were written have disappeared and they are nowhere to be found.” “What is this to cry about?” asked Ibn Shihób. “Call the scribe and I will dictate them again.” This was precisely the objective of Hishóm. He quickly ordered the scribe to his court. Ibn Shihab dictated the same aúódõth over again. The first collection of aúódõth had not really disappeared, it was only a ploy to test Ibn Shihób’s memory of Ahadõth. When Ibn Shihób left the court, Hisham compared the older copy with the new one and saw that no change had been made to the original copy of aúódõth.9

如果不是今天有背诵《古兰经》的hafiz们，“圣训的原始文本未曾增添任何内容”这一说法看起来就像儿童故事书里的情节。如今，人们可以考验一位《古兰经》的哈菲兹（背诵者）：让他诵读一章《古兰经》，然后请他凭记忆再背诵一遍，便能证明两次诵读逐字相同，毫无差别。由此，人们不得不承认，这些圣训既没有被增添任何内容，也没有被删减任何内容。

Had it not been for the úuffóþ [memorizers] of Qura’n today, the claim “not one addition had been made to the original copy of Ahadith” would seem like a tale from a children’s storybook. Today one can test a Hafiz [memorizer] from the Qura’n, which is bigger than a collection of four hundred aúódõth. Having him read a chapter of the Qur’an and then asking him to recite it from memory will prove that word for word, there will be no difference between the first recitation and the second. One is thus forced to admit that neither any addition nor any subtraction was made to these Ahadith.