Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 73
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ يَعْقُوبَ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ سَعِيدِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ أَبَاهُ يُحَدِّثُ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، أَنَّهُ قَالَ: احْفَظُوا أَنْسَابَكُمْ، تَصَلُوا أَرْحَامَكُمْ، فَإِنَّهُ لاَ بُعْدَ بِالرَّحِمِ إِذَا قَرُبَتْ، وَإِنْ كَانَتْ بَعِيدَةً، وَلاَ قُرْبَ بِهَا إِذَا بَعُدَتْ، وَإِنْ كَانَتْ قَرِيبَةً، وَكُلُّ رَحِمٍ آتِيَةٌ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَمَامَ صَاحِبِهَا، تَشْهَدُ لَهُ بِصِلَةٍ إِنْ كَانَ وَصَلَهَا، وَعَلَيْهِ بِقَطِيعَةٍ إِنْ كَانَ قَطَعَهَا.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn Ya‘qub narrated to us, saying: Ishaq ibn Sa‘id ibn ‘Amr informed us that he heard his father relate from Ibn ‘Abbas that he said: “Learn your lineages so that you may maintain your ties of kinship. Kinship brings no distance when it is near, even if it is far; and it brings no closeness when it is far, even if it is near. Every kinship tie will come on the Day of Resurrection before the person to whom it belongs, bearing witness for him that he maintained it if he did so, and against him that he severed it if he did so.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
فَإِنَّهُ لاَ بُعْدَ بِالرَّحِمِ إِذَا قَرُبَتْ، وَإِنْ كَانَتْ بَعِيدَةً، وَلاَ قُرْبَ بِهَا إِذَا بَعُدَتْ، وَإِنْ كَانَتْ قَرِيبَةً
The wording is paradoxical and may contrast social distance with genealogical closeness; the repeated near/far clauses are preserved literally here.
What distinction between genealogical proximity and social distance best explains this contrast, if any, without importing an interpretation into the translation?