Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 3372
حَدَّثَنَا الْعَبَّاسُ بْنُ عُثْمَانَ الدِّمَشْقِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مُنِيرُ بْنُ الزُّبَيْرِ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ عُبَادَةَ بْنَ نُسَىٍّ، يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ خَبَّابَ بْنَ الأَرَتِّ، عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ أَنَّهُ قَالَ " إِيَّاكَ وَالْخَمْرَ فَإِنَّ خَطِيئَتَهَا تَفْرَعُ الْخَطَايَا كَمَا أَنَّ شَجَرَتَهَا تَفْرَعُ الشَّجَرَ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt reported from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he said, ‘Beware of wine, for its sin branches out among sins just as its tree branches out among trees.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The saying uses a parallel image: the sin associated with wine branches among sins as its plant branches among trees. The text does not further explain this comparison.
عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ أَنَّهُ قَالَ " إِيَّاكَ وَالْخَمْرَ فَإِنَّ خَطِيئَتَهَا تَفْرَعُ الْخَطَايَا كَمَا أَنَّ شَجَرَتَهَا تَفْرَعُ الشَّجَرَ " .
The report repeats the verb ‘branches out’ for wine’s sin among sins and for its tree among trees; the precise implication of the comparison is not explained.
What specific sense of the sin ‘branching out’ is intended beyond the parallel with the plant’s branching?