This science of Hadith with its multitude of branches is extremely vast. The Muhaddithun gave their lives to this science, studying, teaching, explaining and writing on various aspects of it. The beginner is often overwhelmed by its vastness, and thus scholars throughout the ages have written books to facilitate the study of this sacred science.   This book is a translation of the introduction to Ad-Durr al-Manḍūd ala Sunan Abi Dawud, Mawlana Sayyid Muhammad Aqil’s Urdu commentary of Sunan Abi Dawud, which is effectively a transcription of his lectures on the Sunan. It aims to give the student the neccessary tools before their journey into studying the Sihah Sittah and other books of hadith. This book was prepared to ensure that the student is not overwhelemd by the sheer size of these voluminous books, unable to understand and derive any benefit from them, rather they are equipped with the tools to maximise the benefit of studying these canonical books.