Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 74
حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَاحِدِ بْنُ زِيَادٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا وَائِلُ بْنُ دَاوُدَ اللَّيْثِيُّ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ أَبِي حَبِيبٍ قَالَ: قَالَ لِي عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ عُمَرَ: مِمَّنْ أَنْتَ؟ قُلْتُ: مِنْ تَيْمِ تَمِيمٍ، قَالَ: مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَوْ مِنْ مَوَالِيهِمْ؟ قُلْتُ: مِنْ مَوَالِيهِمْ، قَالَ: فَهَلاَّ قُلْتَ: مِنْ مَوَالِيهِمْ إِذًا؟.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Musa ibn Isma‘il narrated to us, saying: ‘Abd al-Wahid ibn Ziyad narrated to us, saying: Wa’il ibn Dawud al-Laythi narrated to us, saying: ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Habib said: ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar said to me, ‘Which people are you from?’ I replied, ‘From Taym of Tamim.’ He asked, ‘From their own people or from their clients?’ I replied, ‘From their clients.’ He said, ‘Then why did you not say, “From their clients,” in the first place?’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Mawla (plural mawali) can denote a client or affiliated person, including a freed person or a descendant of freed people; the precise historical status is not stated here.
مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَوْ مِنْ مَوَالِيهِمْ
The contrast distinguishes tribal members from mawali, whose social affiliation could take several forms.
Should mawali be retained as a transliterated social category rather than rendered ‘clients’ in this context?