Sunan an-Nasa'i
Sunan an-Nasa'i 1192
أَخْبَرَنَا سُوَيْدُ بْنُ نَصْرٍ، قَالَ أَنْبَأَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ، عَنِ الأَوْزَاعِيِّ، عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ أَبِي كَثِيرٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو سَلَمَةَ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي مُعَيْقِيبٌ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " إِنْ كُنْتَ لاَ بُدَّ فَاعِلاً فَمَرَّةً " .
Suwayd ibn Nasr reported to us, saying: ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak informed us, from al-Awza‘i, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, who said: Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman narrated to me; he said: Mu‘ayqib narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “If you must do it, then do it once.”
Translation notes
The chapter context concerns smoothing pebbles during prayer; the narration itself uses the pronoun “it” without restating the action.