Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 154
قَالَ: وَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: مَا تَعُدُّونَ فِيكُمُ الرَّقُوبَ؟ قَالُوا: الرَّقُوبُ الَّذِي لاَ يُولَدُ لَهُ، قَالَ: لاَ، وَلَكِنَّ الرَّقُوبَ الَّذِي لَمْ يُقَدِّمْ مِنْ وَلَدِهِ شَيْئًا.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
He said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: 'Whom do you consider childless among you?' They replied, 'The one who has no children.' He said, 'No; rather, the truly bereft is the one who has sent none of his children ahead.'
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
مَا تَعُدُّونَ فِيكُمُ الرَّقُوبَ؟ قَالُوا: الرَّقُوبُ الَّذِي لاَ يُولَدُ لَهُ،
Raqūb is a conventional term for someone without surviving offspring, then is redefined in the report.
Should the translation retain 'childless' or use a term that signals the idiomatic reversal?