Sunan Abi Dawud

Sunan Abi Dawud 663

Arabic hadith text

حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادٌ، عَنْ سِمَاكِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ النُّعْمَانَ بْنَ بَشِيرٍ، يَقُولُ كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُسَوِّينَا فِي الصُّفُوفِ كَمَا يُقَوَّمُ الْقِدْحُ حَتَّى إِذَا ظَنَّ أَنْ قَدْ أَخَذْنَا ذَلِكَ عَنْهُ وَفَقِهْنَا أَقْبَلَ ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ بِوَجْهِهِ إِذَا رَجُلٌ مُنْتَبِذٌ بِصَدْرِهِ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ لَتُسَوُّنَّ صُفُوفَكُمْ أَوْ لَيُخَالِفَنَّ اللَّهُ بَيْنَ وُجُوهِكُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Translation

Al-Nuʿman ibn Bashir said: The Prophet (ﷺ) used to straighten us in the rows as an arrow is straightened, until he thought we had learned it from him and understood it. One day he turned to us and saw a man standing with his chest jutting out. He said: ‘You must straighten your rows, or Allah will make your faces differ.’