Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 179
حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ مَرْزُوقٍ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا شُعْبَةُ قَالَ لِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُنْكَدِرِ: مَا اسْمُكَ؟ فَقُلْتُ: شُعْبَةُ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو شُعْبَةَ، عَنْ سُوَيْدِ بْنِ مُقَرِّنٍ الْمُزَنِيِّ، وَرَأَى رَجُلاً لَطَمَ غُلاَمَهُ، فَقَالَ: أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ الصُّورَةَ مُحَرَّمَةٌ؟ رَأَيْتُنِي وَإِنِّي سَابِعُ سَبْعَةِ إِخْوَةٍ، عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم، مَا لَنَا إِلاَّ خَادِمٌ، فَلَطَمَهُ أَحَدُنَا، فَأَمَرَنَا النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنْ نُعْتِقَهُ.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Amr ibn Marzuq narrated to us. He said: Shu'ba informed us. Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir asked me, 'What is your name?' I replied, 'Shu'ba.' He said: Abu Shu'ba narrated to me, from Suwayd ibn Muqarrin al-Muzani: He saw a man slap his servant and said, 'Do you not know that the face is inviolable? I remember being the seventh of seven brothers in the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and we had only one servant. One of us slapped him, and the Prophet ordered us to set him free.'
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ الصُّورَةَ مُحَرَّمَةٌ؟
Al-ṣūra can denote the face/visage; muḥarrama here indicates inviolability or protected status, rather than the act of image-making.
Does the edition's policy support 'the face is inviolable' as the clearest rendering?