Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 69
حَدَّثَنَا مَالِكُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عِيسَى بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ طَلْحَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَوْسَجَةَ، عَنِ الْبَرَاءِ قَالَ: جَاءَ أَعْرَابِيٌّ فَقَالَ: يَا نَبِيَّ اللهِ، عَلِّمْنِي عَمَلاً يُدْخِلُنِي الْجَنَّةَ، قَالَ: لَئِنْ كُنْتَ أَقَصَرْتَ الْخُطْبَةَ لَقَدْ أَعْرَضْتَ الْمَسْأَلَةَ، أَعْتِقِ النَّسَمَةَ، وَفُكَّ الرَّقَبَةَ قَالَ: أَوَ لَيْسَتَا وَاحِدًا؟ قَالَ: لاَ، عِتْقُ النَّسَمَةِ أَنْ تَعْتِقَ النَّسَمَةَ، وَفَكُّ الرَّقَبَةِ أَنْ تُعِينَ عَلَى الرَّقَبَةِ، وَالْمَنِيحَةُ الرَّغُوبُ، وَالْفَيْءُ عَلَى ذِي الرَّحِمِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ تُطِقْ ذَلِكَ، فَأْمُرْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ، وَانْهَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ تُطِقْ ذَلِكَ، فَكُفَّ لِسَانَكَ إِلاَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Malik ibn Isma‘il narrated to us, saying: ‘Isa ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman narrated to us, from Talhah, from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awsajah, from al-Bara’, who said: A Bedouin came and said, “Prophet of Allah, teach me an action that will admit me to Paradise.” He said, “Though you have kept your address short, you have raised a far-reaching question. Free a person, and help release a slave from bondage.” The man said, “Are those not one and the same?” He replied, “No. Freeing a person is that you free that person; helping release a slave is that you assist in freeing a slave. And [there is] the loan of a milk-rich animal, and giving to a kinsman. If you cannot manage that, then enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong; and if you cannot manage that, then restrain your tongue except for good.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The wording الْمَنِيحَةُ الرَّغُوبُ refers to a milch-animal loan or gift, while الْفَيْءُ عَلَى ذِي الرَّحِمِ is retained as giving or benefit directed to a relative; these phrases need specialist lexical review.
لَئِنْ كُنْتَ أَقَصَرْتَ الْخُطْبَةَ لَقَدْ أَعْرَضْتَ الْمَسْأَلَةَ
The contrast appears to praise the concise wording while indicating the breadth of the question, but the exact idiomatic force is not certain.
What English phrasing best preserves the contrast between the brief request and its wide scope?
وَالْمَنِيحَةُ الرَّغُوبُ، وَالْفَيْءُ عَلَى ذِي الرَّحِمِ
Both expressions are specialized and their precise practical meanings are not settled by the text or the witness alone.
Should الْمَنِيحَةُ الرَّغُوبُ be rendered as lending or gifting a productive milch animal, and what sense of الْفَيْءُ is intended in relation to a kinsman?