Mishkat al-Masabih 2377

‘Amir al-Rami reported: While we were with him—that is, with the Prophet ﷺ—a man came wearing a cloak and carrying something wrapped in it. He said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I passed a dense thicket of trees and heard the cries of bird chicks there. I took them and put them in my cloak. Their mother came and circled above my head, so I uncovered them for her and she settled over them. I wrapped them in my cloak again, and here they are with me.’ He said, ‘Put them down.’ I put them down, but their mother would not leave them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Are you amazed at a mother bird’s tenderness toward her chicks? By the One who sent me with the truth, Allah is more merciful to His servants than a mother bird is to her chicks. Take them back and put them where you found them, with their mother.’ He returned with them. Reported by Abu Dawud. The hadith was not studied by al-Albani.