Sunan Abi Dawud

Sunan Abi Dawud 480

Arabic hadith text

حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ حَبِيبِ بْنِ عَرَبِيٍّ، حَدَّثَنَا خَالِدٌ، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ الْحَارِثِ - عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَجْلاَنَ، عَنْ عِيَاضِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَانَ يُحِبُّ الْعَرَاجِينَ وَلاَ يَزَالُ فِي يَدِهِ مِنْهَا فَدَخَلَ الْمَسْجِدَ فَرَأَى نُخَامَةً فِي قِبْلَةِ الْمَسْجِدِ فَحَكَّهَا ثُمَّ أَقْبَلَ عَلَى النَّاسِ مُغْضَبًا فَقَالَ ‏"‏ أَيَسُرُّ أَحَدَكُمْ أَنْ يُبْصَقَ فِي وَجْهِهِ إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ إِذَا اسْتَقْبَلَ الْقِبْلَةَ فَإِنَّمَا يَسْتَقْبِلُ رَبَّهُ جَلَّ وَعَزَّ وَالْمَلَكُ عَنْ يَمِينِهِ فَلاَ يَتْفُلْ عَنْ يَمِينِهِ وَلاَ فِي قِبْلَتِهِ وَلْيَبْصُقْ عَنْ يَسَارِهِ أَوْ تَحْتَ قَدَمِهِ فَإِنْ عَجِلَ بِهِ أَمْرٌ فَلْيَقُلْ هَكَذَا ‏"‏ ‏.‏ وَوَصَفَ لَنَا ابْنُ عَجْلاَنَ ذَلِكَ أَنْ يَتْفُلَ فِي ثَوْبِهِ ثُمَّ يَرُدَّ بَعْضَهُ عَلَى بَعْضٍ ‏.‏

Translation

Yahya ibn Habib ibn ʿArabi narrated to us: Khalid—meaning Ibn al-Harith—narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn ʿAjlan, from ʿIyad ibn ʿAbd Allah, from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) liked date-palm stalks and often had one in his hand. He entered the mosque and saw phlegm toward its qiblah side, so he scraped it away. Then he turned to the people angrily and said: ‘Would any of you like someone to spit in his face? When one of you faces the qiblah, he is facing his Lord, Mighty and Majestic, and the angel is to his right. So let him not spit to his right or toward his qiblah, but to his left or beneath his foot. If something urgent comes up for him, let him do this.’ Ibn ʿAjlan demonstrated this for us: he should spit into his garment, then fold one part over another.