Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Book 55, Hadith 15
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا يُونُسُ، عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ، عَنِ الْمُغِيرَةِ بْنِ شُعْبَةَ: قَالَ رَجُلٌ: أَصْلَحَ اللَّهُ الأَمِيرَ، إِنَّ آذِنَكَ يَعْرِفُ رِجَالاً فَيُؤْثِرُهُمْ بِالإِذْنِ، قَالَ: عَذَرَهُ اللَّهُ، إِنَّ الْمَعْرِفَةَ لَتَنْفَعُ عِنْدَ الْكَلْبِ الْعَقُورِ، وَعِنْدَ الْجَمَلِ الصَّؤُولِ.
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: Yunus related to us, from Abu Ishaq, from al-Mughirah ibn Shu‘bah: A man said: ‘May Allah set the commander right: your gatekeeper recognizes certain men and gives them preference in granting access.’ He replied: ‘May Allah excuse him! Recognizing people is useful when dealing with a vicious dog or a charging camel.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The short exchange is preserved literally; the point of the reply about recognizing people and dangerous animals is not made explicit in the Arabic source.
إِنَّ الْمَعْرِفَةَ لَتَنْفَعُ عِنْدَ الْكَلْبِ الْعَقُورِ، وَعِنْدَ الْجَمَلِ الصَّؤُولِ
The proverb-like reply may refer to knowing people or recognizing a dangerous animal; the analogy is compressed and the referent is not clarified.
Should المعرفة here be understood as familiarity/recognition of people, or as identifying dangerous animals?