A proper Hadith contains two parts:
1. Matan (متن)
2. Sanad (سند)
Matan refers to the actual text itself whereas Sanad refers to the chain of transmission
So in the following hadith,
Abu Dawud writes: It was narrated to us by Muhammad bin Dawud bin Sufyan: It was narrated to us by Yahya bin Hassan: It was narrated to us by Ja’far bin Sa’d: It was narrated to me by Khubayb Bin Sulayman, from his father, from the companion Samura bin Jundub, who said [in a speech]: “Indeed the Messenger of God, May the peace and blessings of God be upon him, would order us to pay the charity tax on things that we were preparing for sale.”
The first part of the hadith (“It was narrated by…Samura bin Jundub”) is the Sanad. And following that, the part in bold is the Matan.
