Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 438
حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا حُصَيْنٌ، عَنْ سَعْدِ بْنِ عُبَيْدَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ السُّلَمِيِّ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ عَلِيًّا رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَقُولُ: بَعَثَنِي النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَالزُّبَيْرَ بْنَ الْعَوَّامِ، وَكِلاَنَا فَارِسٌ، فَقَالَ: انْطَلِقُوا حَتَّى تَبْلُغُوا رَوْضَةَ كَذَا وَكَذَا، وَبِهَا امْرَأَةٌ مَعَهَا كِتَابٌ مِنْ حَاطِبٍ إِلَى الْمُشْرِكِينَ، فَأْتُونِي بِهَا، فَوَافَيْنَاهَا تَسِيرُ عَلَى بَعِيرٍ لَهَا حَيْثُ وَصَفَ لَنَا النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم، فَقُلْنَا: الْكِتَابُ الَّذِي مَعَكِ؟ قَالَتْ: مَا مَعِي كِتَابٌ، فَبَحَثْنَاهَا وَبَعِيرَهَا، فَقَالَ صَاحِبِي: مَا أَرَى، فَقُلْتُ: مَا كَذَبَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم، وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَأُجَرِّدَنَّكِ أَوْ لَتُخْرِجِنَّهُ، فَأَهْوَتْ بِيَدِهَا إِلَى حُجْزَتِهَا وَعَلَيْهَا إِزَارٌ صُوفٌ، فَأَخْرَجَتْ، فَأَتَيْنَا النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم، فَقَالَ عُمَرُ: خَانَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ، دَعْنِي أَضْرِبْ عُنُقَهُ، وَقَالَ: مَا حَمَلَكَ؟ فَقَالَ: مَا بِي إِلاَّ أَنْ أَكُونَ مُؤْمِنًا بِاللَّهِ، وَأَرَدْتُ أَنْ يَكُونَ لِي عِنْدَ الْقَوْمِ يَدٌ، قَالَ: صَدَقَ يَا عُمَرُ، أَوَ لَيْسَ قَدْ شَهِدَ بَدْرًا، لَعَلَّ اللَّهَ اطَّلَعَ إِلَيْهِمْ فَقَالَ: اعْمَلُوا مَا شِئْتُمْ فَقَدْ وَجَبَتْ لَكُمُ الْجَنَّةُ، فَدَمَعَتْ عَيْنَا عُمَرَ وَقَالَ: اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Musa narrated to us: ‘Abd al-‘Aziz narrated to us: Husayn narrated to us, from Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubayda, from Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, who said: I heard ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) say: The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) sent me and al-Zubayr ibn al-‘Awwam—we were both horsemen—and said: Go until you reach the garden of such-and-such. There is a woman there carrying a letter from Hatib to the polytheists. Bring her to me. We found her riding her camel at the place the Prophet had described to us. We said: The letter you have with you? She replied: I have no letter. We searched her and her camel. My companion said: I see nothing. I said: The Prophet did not lie. By the One in whose hand my soul is, I will strip you unless you produce it. She reached toward her waistband, wearing a woolen wrap, and brought it out. We came to the Prophet. ‘Umar said: He has betrayed Allah, His Messenger, and the believers. Let me strike off his head! The Prophet asked: What prompted you? Hatib replied: I have no motive except that I believe in Allah, and I wanted to have a favor with those people. The Prophet said: He has spoken truthfully, ‘Umar. Was he not present at Badr? Perhaps Allah looked upon those who were there and said: Do whatever you wish, for the Garden is assured to you. ‘Umar’s eyes filled with tears, and he said: Allah and His Messenger know best.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic says the woman wore a woolen waist-wrap, not a black shawl. The phrase ‘I wanted to have a favor with those people’ translates أَرَدْتُ أَنْ يَكُونَ لِي عِنْدَ الْقَوْمِ يَدٌ; the English witness’s wording ‘I believe in Allah, but I wanted…’ makes the relationship between the clauses adversative, which the Arabic conjunction does not state.
فَأَهْوَتْ بِيَدِهَا إِلَى حُجْزَتِهَا وَعَلَيْهَا إِزَارٌ صُوفٌ،
The Arabic says she was wearing a woolen izar/wrap, without describing it as black.
Should the clothing detail follow the Arabic’s woolen wrap rather than the witness’s black shawl?
فَقَالَ: مَا بِي إِلاَّ أَنْ أَكُونَ مُؤْمِنًا بِاللَّهِ،
The Arabic has ‘I have nothing [to say] except that I am a believer in Allah’ followed by ‘and I wanted to have a favor with those people’; it does not mark the second clause as a contrast with ‘but.’
Should the explanation be translated without the adversative ‘but,’ as here?