Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 800
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا شَبَابَةُ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ أَبِي ذِئْبٍ، عَنِ الْمَقْبُرِيِّ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " مَا تَوَطَّنَ رَجُلٌ مُسْلِمٌ الْمَسَاجِدَ لِلصَّلاَةِ وَالذِّكْرِ إِلاَّ تَبَشْبَشَ اللَّهُ لَهُ كَمَا يَتَبَشْبَشُ أَهْلُ الْغَائِبِ بِغَائِبِهِمْ إِذَا قَدِمَ عَلَيْهِمْ " .
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: Shababah narrated to us: Ibn Abi Dhi'b narrated to us, from al-Maqburi, from Sa'id ibn Yasar, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: ‘Whenever a Muslim makes the mosques his regular places for prayer and remembrance, Allah receives him with delight, just as a family welcomes an absent loved one when he returns to them.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source uses the image of a family joyfully welcoming a member who has been away; ‘receives him with delight’ conveys the parallel verb for Allah.
إِلاَّ تَبَشْبَشَ اللَّهُ لَهُ كَمَا يَتَبَشْبَشُ أَهْلُ الْغَائِبِ بِغَائِبِهِمْ إِذَا قَدِمَ عَلَيْهِمْ
The source uses a vivid human comparison for divine reception; the translation preserves its figurative parallel without further interpretation.
Should the metaphor be rendered more literally or with an idiomatic phrase such as ‘rejoices at his coming’?