Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 167
حَدَّثَنَا بِشْرُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ اللهِ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو خَلْدَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي الْعَالِيَةِ قَالَ: كُنَّا نُؤْمَرُ أَنْ نَخْتِمَ عَلَى الْخَادِمِ، وَنَكِيلَ، وَنَعُدَّهَا، كَرَاهِيَةَ أَنْ يَتَعَوَّدُوا خُلُقَ سُوءٍ، أَوْ يَظُنَّ أَحَدُنَا ظَنَّ سُوءٍ.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Bishr ibn Muhammad narrated to us. He said: Abd Allah informed us. He said: Abu Khalda informed us, from Abu al-Aliya, who said: 'We were instructed to settle the servant's allotment, measure it, and count it, lest they acquire a bad habit or one of us be suspected of wrongdoing.'
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
كُنَّا نُؤْمَرُ أَنْ نَخْتِمَ عَلَى الْخَادِمِ، وَنَكِيلَ، وَنَعُدَّهَا،
The object of measure/count is implicit, and the exact sense of nakhtim ʿalā al-khādim is not spelled out.
Does this refer to settling and accounting for the servant's provisions or another household practice?