Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 3709
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنْ شُعْبَةَ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْمُنْكَدِرِ، عَنْ جَابِرٍ، قَالَ اسْتَأْذَنْتُ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَقَالَ " مَنْ هَذَا " . فَقُلْتُ أَنَا فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " أَنَا أَنَا " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
It was narrated that Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah said: Waki‘ narrated to us, from Shu‘bah, from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, from Jabir, who said: ‘I asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for permission to enter. He asked, “Who is it?” I said, “It is me.” The Prophet said, “Me, me?”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The exchange repeats ana (‘I/me’); the wording can be understood as correcting the visitor for identifying himself only as ‘me.’
فَقُلْتُ أَنَا فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " أَنَا أَنَا " .
The repeated ‘I, I’ may be an emphatic echo or a correction that a visitor should identify himself by name.
Should the reply be understood as ‘Me, me?’ or as a rebuke for giving no identifying name?