Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 178
حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي سَلَمَةُ بْنُ كُهَيْلٍ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي مُعَاوِيَةُ بْنُ سُوَيْدِ بْنِ مُقَرِّنٍ قَالَ: لَطَمْتُ مَوْلًى لَنَا فَفَرَّ، فَدَعَانِي أَبِي فَقَالَ لَهُ: اقْتَصَّ، كُنَّا وَلَدَ مُقَرِّنٍ سَبْعَةً، لَنَا خَادِمٌ، فَلَطَمَهَا أَحَدُنَا، فَذُكِرَ ذَلِكَ لِلنَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ: مُرْهُمْ فَلْيُعْتِقُوهَا، فَقِيلَ لِلنَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم: لَيْسَ لَهُمْ خَادِمٌ غَيْرَهَا، قَالَ: فَلْيَسْتَخْدِمُوهَا فَإِذَا اسْتَغْنَوْا خَلُّوا سَبِيلَهَا.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Musaddad narrated to us. He said: Yahya ibn Said narrated to us, from Sufyan, who said: Salama ibn Kuhayl narrated to me. He said: Muawiya ibn Suwayd ibn Muqarrin narrated to me: I slapped a client of ours, and he ran away. My father called me and said to him, 'Demand equal retribution.' We, the sons of Muqarrin, were seven, and we had only one servant woman. One of us slapped her, and the matter was reported to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He said, 'Tell them to set her free.' It was said to the Prophet, 'They have no servant other than her.' He said, 'Let them use her, then, when they can do without her, let them release her.'
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
لَطَمْتُ مَوْلًى لَنَا فَفَرَّ،
Mawla may refer here to a freedman or dependent rather than a client in the modern commercial sense.
Which English rendering best reflects the social relationship intended by mawla here?
فَدَعَانِي أَبِي فَقَالَ لَهُ: اقْتَصَّ،
The report's pronoun likely addresses the man who was struck, but the antecedent is not explicitly repeated.
Should English make the inferred addressee explicit or preserve the compact wording?