Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 1626
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ ابْنُ عُلَيَّةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَوْنٍ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنِ الأَسْوَدِ، قَالَ: ذَكَرُوا عِنْدَ عَائِشَةَ أَنَّ عَلِيًّا كَانَ وَصِيًّا . فَقَالَتْ: مَتَى أَوْصَى إِلَيْهِ؟ فَلَقَدْ كُنْتُ مُسْنِدَتَهُ إِلَى صَدْرِي - أَوْ إِلَى حِجْرِي فَدَعَا بِطَسْتٍ فَلَقَدِ انْخَنَثَ فِي حِجْرِي فَمَاتَ وَمَا شَعَرْتُ بِهِ. فَمَتَى أَوْصَى ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ؟
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Isma‘il ibn Ulayyah narrated to us, from Ibn Awn, from Ibrahim, from al-Aswad, who said: In Aishah’s presence, they mentioned that Ali had been a legatee. She said: ‘When did he make a bequest entrusting anything to him? I was supporting him against my chest—or, she said, in my lap—when he asked for a basin. He slumped over in my lap and died, and I did not realize it. So when did he (peace and blessings be upon him) make a bequest to him?’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source’s wording that Ali was a wasiyy is rendered ‘a legatee’; the report’s claim is preserved without adding a broader interpretation.
The alternative locations ‘against my chest—or in my lap’ are retained as given.
فَلَقَدْ كُنْتُ مُسْنِدَتَهُ إِلَى صَدْرِي - أَوْ إِلَى حِجْرِي فَدَعَا بِطَسْتٍ فَلَقَدِ انْخَنَثَ فِي حِجْرِي فَمَاتَ وَمَا شَعَرْتُ بِهِ.
The rare verb انخنث describes what happened in Aishah’s lap; ‘slumped over’ preserves the bodily movement without specifying more precisely how he fell.
Does ‘slumped over’ adequately preserve the source verb’s sense here?