Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 742
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنْ حَمَّادِ بْنِ سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي التَّيَّاحِ الضُّبَعِيِّ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، قَالَ كَانَ مَوْضِعُ مَسْجِدِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ لِبَنِي النَّجَّارِ وَكَانَ فِيهِ نَخْلٌ وَمَقَابِرُ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ فَقَالَ لَهُمُ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " ثَامِنُونِي بِهِ " . قَالُوا لاَ نَأْخُذُ لَهُ ثَمَنًا أَبَدًا . قَالَ فَكَانَ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَبْنِيهِ وَهُمْ يُنَاوِلُونَهُ وَالنَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " أَلاَ إِنَّ الْعَيْشَ عَيْشُ الآخِرَةِ فَاغْفِرْ لِلأَنْصَارِ وَالْمُهَاجِرَةِ " . قَالَ وَكَانَ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يُصَلِّي قَبْلَ أَنْ يَبْنِيَ الْمَسْجِدَ حَيْثُ أَدْرَكَتْهُ الصَّلاَةُ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
'Ali ibn Muhammad narrated to us: Waki' narrated to us, from Hammad ibn Salamah, from Abu al-Tayyah al-Duba'i, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: The site of the Prophet's mosque (peace and blessings be upon him) belonged to Banu al-Najjar. It contained date palms and graves of polytheists. The Prophet said to them, ‘Set a price for it with me.’ They said, ‘We will never take payment for it.’ The Prophet began building it, and they handed him the materials while he said: ‘Indeed, the true life is the life of the Hereafter. So forgive the Ansar and the Emigrants.’ Anas said: Before the mosque was built, the Prophet used to pray wherever the prayer time found him.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The request ثَامِنُونِي بِهِ is rendered as asking them to agree a price for the land; they refuse any payment. The closing sentence is Anas's narration.
ثَامِنُونِي بِهِ
The verb is a form related to valuing/pricing; a more idiomatic sense may be ‘name your price’ or ‘set a price with me.’
Which English wording best conveys this request to agree the land's price?