Mishkat al-Masabih
Mishkat al-Masabih 1067
وَعَنْ أَبِي الدَّرْدَاءِ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «مَا مِنْ ثَلَاثَةٍ فِي قَرْيَةٍ وَلَا بَدْوٍ لَا تُقَامُ فِيهِمُ الصَّلَاةُ إِلَّا قَدِ اسْتَحْوَذَ عَلَيْهِمُ الشَّيْطَانُ فَعَلَيْكَ بِالْجَمَاعَةِ فَإِنَّمَا يَأْكُلُ الذِّئْبُ الْقَاصِيَةَ» . رَوَاهُ أَحْمَدُ وَأَبُو دَاوُد وَالنَّسَائِيّ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu al-Dardaʾ reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whenever three people in a village or a rural settlement fail to establish the prayer among them, Satan has gained mastery over them. So keep to the congregation, for the wolf eats only the one that strays from the flock.” Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and al-Nasaʾi transmitted it.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic contrasts a village with the open countryside (badw) and uses the proverb of a wolf taking the animal that strays.