Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim 142b
حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ يَحْيَى، أَخْبَرَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ زُرَيْعٍ، عَنْ يُونُسَ، عَنِ الْحَسَنِ، قَالَ دَخَلَ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ زِيَادٍ عَلَى مَعْقِلِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ وَهُوَ وَجِعٌ فَسَأَلَهُ فَقَالَ إِنِّي مُحَدِّثُكَ حَدِيثًا لَمْ أَكُنْ حَدَّثْتُكَهُ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " لاَ يَسْتَرْعِي اللَّهُ عَبْدًا رَعِيَّةً يَمُوتُ حِينَ يَمُوتُ وَهُوَ غَاشٌّ لَهَا إِلاَّ حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ " . قَالَ أَلاَّ كُنْتَ حَدَّثْتَنِي هَذَا قَبْلَ الْيَوْمِ قَالَ مَا حَدَّثْتُكَ أَوْ لَمْ أَكُنْ لأُحَدِّثَكَ .
Yahya ibn Yahya informed us: Yazid ibn Zuray' informed us, from Yunus, from al-Hasan, who said: 'Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad came to Ma'qil ibn Yasar while he was ill and asked after him. Ma'qil said: I will tell you a hadith that I had not told you before: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, Allah does not entrust a servant with a community to govern, who then dies while betraying it, without forbidding Paradise to him. He asked: Why did you not tell me this before today? Ma'qil replied: I did not tell you—or I would not have told you.
Translation notes
قَالَ أَلاَّ كُنْتَ حَدَّثْتَنِي هَذَا قَبْلَ الْيَوْمِ قَالَ مَا حَدَّثْتُكَ أَوْ لَمْ أَكُنْ لأُحَدِّثَكَ .
The final clause can be read as either “I did not tell you” or “I would not have told you”; the transmitted Arabic itself gives both formulations with aw.
Should a later editor retain both alternatives explicitly or choose one based on a fuller textual witness?