Mishkat al-Masabih
Mishkat al-Masabih 1843
Arabic hadith text
وَعَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ وَهُوَ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ وَهُوَ يَذْكُرُ الصَّدَقَةَ وَالتَّعَفُّفَ عَنِ الْمَسْأَلَةِ: «الْيَدُ الْعُلْيَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْيَدِ السُّفْلَى وَالْيَد الْعليا هِيَ المنفقة وَالْيَد السُّفْلى هِيَ السائلة»
Translation
Ibn Umar said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said while on the pulpit, speaking about alms and refraining from asking: ‘The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The upper hand is the one that gives, and the lower hand is the one that asks.’