Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 869
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ يَعْلَى قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ عَمْرَو بْنَ الشَّرِيدِ، عَنِ الشَّرِيدِ قَالَ: اسْتَنْشَدَنِي النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم شِعْرَ أُمَيَّةَ بْنِ أَبِي الصَّلْتِ، وَأَنْشَدْتُهُ، فَأَخَذَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ: هِيهِ، هِيهِ حَتَّى أَنْشَدْتُهُ مِئَةَ قَافِيَةٍ، فَقَالَ: إِنْ كَادَ لَيُسْلِمُ.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Nu‘aym related to us, saying: ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Ya‘la related to us, saying: I heard ‘Amr ibn al-Sharid, from al-Sharid, who said: The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked me to recite the poetry of Umayya ibn Abi al-Salt, and I recited it to him. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, kept saying: “Go on, go on,” until I had recited a hundred rhyming lines. Then he said: “He nearly became Muslim.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
إِنْ كَادَ لَيُسْلِمُ
The Arabic says that Umayya nearly became Muslim, rather than expressing a wish that he had.
Should the English preserve the near-completion sense?