Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 19
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ الْخَلاَّدِ الْبَاهِلِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ شُعْبَةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَجْلاَنَ، أَنْبَأَنَا عَوْنُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ، قَالَ إِذَا حَدَّثْتُكُمْ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَظُنُّوا بِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ الَّذِي هُوَ أَهْنَاهُ وَأَهْدَاهُ وَأَتْقَاهُ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn al-Khallad al-Bahili narrated to us: Yahya ibn Said narrated to us, from Shubah, from Ibn Ajlan: Awn ibn Abdullah informed us, from Abdullah ibn Masud, who said: When I relate to you something from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), think of the Messenger of Allah as the most beneficial, the best guided, and the most God-fearing.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic uses three superlatives to describe the Prophet: ahna (most beneficial or agreeable), ahda (best guided), and atqa (most God-fearing). The English witness gives a similar sequence.