Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 221
حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامُ بْنُ عَمَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مَرْوَانُ بْنُ جَنَاحٍ، عَنْ يُونُسَ بْنِ مَيْسَرَةَ بْنِ حَلْبَسٍ، أَنَّهُ حَدَّثَهُ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ مُعَاوِيَةَ بْنَ أَبِي سُفْيَانَ، يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ أَنَّهُ قَالَ " الْخَيْرُ عَادَةٌ وَالشَّرُّ لَجَاجَةٌ وَمَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ بِهِ خَيْرًا يُفَقِّهْهُ فِي الدِّينِ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Hisham ibn Ammar reported to us: al-Walid ibn Muslim reported to us: Marwan ibn Janah reported to us, from Yunus ibn Maysarah ibn Halbas, who told him: I heard Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan relate from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) that he said, ‘Goodness is a habit and evil is persistence. Whoever Allah wills good for, He grants him understanding of the religion.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic says goodness is a habit and evil is lijaj (persistence/obstinacy), without the witness’s explanatory phrase about Satan.