Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 197
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ كَثِيرٍ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَجْلاَنَ، عَنِ الْمَقْبُرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ: أَمَرَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم بِصَدَقَةٍ، فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ: عِنْدِي دِينَارٌ، قَالَ: أَنْفِقْهُ عَلَى نَفْسِكَ، قَالَ: عِنْدِي آخَرُ، قَالَ: أَنْفِقْهُ عَلَى زَوْجَتِكَ قَالَ: عِنْدِي آخَرُ، قَالَ: أَنْفِقْهُ عَلَى خَادِمِكَ، ثُمَّ أَنْتَ أَبْصَرُ.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Kathir narrated to us. He said: Sufyan informed us, from Muhammad ibn Ajlan, from al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurayra, who said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed people to give charity. A man said, ‘I have a dinar.’ He said, ‘Spend it on yourself.’ The man said, ‘I have another.’ He said, ‘Spend it on your wife.’ The man said, ‘I have another.’ He said, ‘Spend it on your servant. Then you know best.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The closing phrase thumma anta absar literally means ‘then you see better’; it leaves the final decision to the man without specifying another recipient.
ثُمَّ أَنْتَ أَبْصَرُ.
The expression literally says ‘then you see better’ and leaves the next decision unspecified.
Should an editor preserve the literal idiom or make explicit that the man may choose another recipient?