Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 2503
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو حَيَّانَ التَّيْمِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا الضَّحَّاكُ، خَالُ الْمُنْذِرِ بْنِ جَرِيرٍ عَنِ الْمُنْذِرِ بْنِ جَرِيرٍ، قَالَ كُنْتُ مَعَ أَبِي بِالْبَوَازِيجِ فَرَاحَتِ الْبَقَرُ فَرَأَى بَقَرَةً أَنْكَرَهَا فَقَالَ مَا هَذِهِ قَالُوا بَقَرَةٌ لَحِقَتْ بِالْبَقَرِ . قَالَ فَأَمَرَ بِهَا فَطُرِدَتْ حَتَّى تَوَارَتْ ثُمَّ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " لاَ يُئْوِي الضَّالَّةَ إِلاَّ ضَالٌّ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us: Yahya ibn Said narrated to us; Abu Hayyan al-Taymi narrated to us; al-Dahhak, the maternal uncle of al-Mundhir ibn Jarir, narrated to us, from al-Mundhir ibn Jarir, who said: I was with my father in al-Bawazij when the cattle came home in the evening. He saw a cow he did not recognize and asked, What is this? They said, A cow that joined the herd. He ordered it driven away until it was out of sight. Then he said, I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Only one who is astray gives shelter to a stray animal.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic places the order to drive the cow away with al-Mundhir father, then has the father say that he heard the Prophet. The final saying uses rhetorical wordplay between a stray animal and a person who is astray; the translation preserves that force without adding an interpretation.