Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Book 27, Hadith 3
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا حَنَشُ بْنُ الْحَارِثِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ قَالَ: كَانَ الرَّجُلُ مِنَّا تُنْتَجُ فَرَسُهُ فَيَنْحَرُهَا فَيَقُولُ: أَنَا أَعِيشُ حَتَّى أَرْكَبَ هَذَا؟ فَجَاءَنَا كِتَابُ عُمَرَ: أَنْ أَصْلِحُوا مَا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ، فَإِنَّ فِي الامْرِ تَنَفُّسًا.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Nu‘aym said: Hanash ibn al-Harith related to us, from his father, who said: One of our men’s mare gave birth, and he slaughtered it, saying, “Will I live long enough to ride this?” Then ‘Umar’s letter came to us: “Take proper care of what Allah has provided you, for there is room to breathe in the matter.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The verb تنتج indicates the mare foaled; the Arabic says the animal was slaughtered, though the English witness describes the mare as pregnant.
تُنْتَجُ فَرَسُهُ فَيَنْحَرُهَا
The English witness says the mare became pregnant, whereas the Arabic indicates that it gave birth before being slaughtered.
Does the source wording reflect a textual variant or a different understanding of the verb?
فَإِنَّ فِي الامْرِ تَنَفُّسًا
The phrase suggests spaciousness or latitude in the situation; its exact idiomatic force is unclear.
Would ‘there is latitude in the matter’ better convey the intended sense?