Sahih al-Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari 3267
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيٌّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي وَائِلٍ،، قَالَ قِيلَ لأُسَامَةَ لَوْ أَتَيْتَ فُلاَنًا فَكَلَّمْتَهُ. قَالَ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَرَوْنَ أَنِّي لاَ أُكَلِّمُهُ إِلاَّ أُسْمِعُكُمْ، إِنِّي أُكُلِّمُهُ فِي السِّرِّ دُونَ أَنْ أَفْتَحَ بَابًا لاَ أَكُونُ أَوَّلَ مَنْ فَتَحَهُ، وَلاَ أَقُولُ لِرَجُلٍ أَنْ كَانَ عَلَىَّ أَمِيرًا إِنَّهُ خَيْرُ النَّاسِ بَعْدَ شَىْءٍ سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم. قَالُوا وَمَا سَمِعْتَهُ يَقُولُ قَالَ سَمِعْتُهُ يَقُولُ " يُجَاءُ بِالرَّجُلِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَيُلْقَى فِي النَّارِ، فَتَنْدَلِقُ أَقْتَابُهُ فِي النَّارِ، فَيَدُورُ كَمَا يَدُورُ الْحِمَارُ بِرَحَاهُ، فَيَجْتَمِعُ أَهْلُ النَّارِ عَلَيْهِ، فَيَقُولُونَ أَىْ فُلاَنُ، مَا شَأْنُكَ أَلَيْسَ كُنْتَ تَأْمُرُنَا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَى عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ قَالَ كُنْتُ آمُرُكُمْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَلاَ آتِيهِ، وَأَنْهَاكُمْ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَآتِيهِ ". رَوَاهُ غُنْدَرٌ عَنْ شُعْبَةَ عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ.
ʿAli narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Abu Waʾil, who said: Someone said to Usama, ‘Why don’t you go to so-and-so and speak to him?’ He said, ‘You think I do not speak to him unless you hear it? I speak to him privately, without opening a door that I would not want to be the first to open. Nor do I say of a man who has authority over me that he is the best of people, after hearing something from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).’ They said, ‘What did you hear him say?’ He said: I heard him say: ‘On the Day of Resurrection, a man will be brought and cast into the Fire. His entrails will pour out into the Fire, and he will circle around like a donkey circling its mill. The people of the Fire will gather around him and say, “So-and-so, what is the matter with you? Did you not used to command us to do what is right and forbid us from doing what is wrong?” He will say, “I used to command you to do what is right, but I did not do it; and I used to forbid you from doing what is wrong, but I did it.”’ Gundar related it from Shuʿba, from al-Aʿmash.
Translation notes
وَلاَ أَقُولُ لِرَجُلٍ أَنْ كَانَ عَلَىَّ أَمِيرًا إِنَّهُ خَيْرُ النَّاسِ بَعْدَ شَىْءٍ سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم
The wording about a man who is ‘over me as commander’ and the relation of the clause ‘after something I heard’ are compressed.
Is the intended meaning that Usama would not call a ruler the best of people after hearing this warning from the Prophet?