Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 2149
حَدَّثَنَا سُوَيْدُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ يَحْيَى بْنِ سَعِيدٍ الْقُرَشِيُّ، عَنْ جَدِّهِ، سَعِيدِ بْنِ أَبِي أُحَيْحَةَ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " مَا بَعَثَ اللَّهُ نَبِيًّا إِلاَّ رَاعِيَ غَنَمٍ " . قَالَ لَهُ أَصْحَابُهُ وَأَنْتَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ . قَالَ " وَأَنَا كُنْتُ أَرْعَاهَا لأَهْلِ مَكَّةَ بِالْقَرَارِيطِ " . قَالَ سُوَيْدٌ يَعْنِي كُلُّ شَاةٍ بِقِيرَاطٍ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Suwayd ibn Saʿid narrated to us; ʿAmr ibn Yahya ibn Saʿid al-Qurashi narrated to us, from his grandfather, Saʿid ibn Abi Uhayhah, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: ‘Allah sent no prophet except that he shepherded sheep.’ His Companions asked him, ‘And you, Messenger of Allah?’ He said, ‘I used to herd them for the people of Mecca for qirats.’ Suwayd said: ‘That is, one qirat for each sheep.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
A qirat was a small unit of payment; the report explains that the rate was one qirat for each sheep.
قَالَ " وَأَنَا كُنْتُ أَرْعَاهَا لأَهْلِ مَكَّةَ بِالْقَرَارِيطِ " .
بالقراريط means for qirats as payment; the following gloss by Suwayd specifies one qirat for each sheep.
Does retaining qirat and translating the narrator’s gloss preserve the payment detail without converting it to a modern currency?