Sunan an-Nasa'i
Sunan an-Nasa'i 1114
أَخْبَرَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ سَوَّادِ بْنِ الأَسْوَدِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو السَّرْحِيُّ، - مِنْ وَلَدِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ سَعْدِ بْنِ أَبِي سَرْحٍ - قَالَ أَنْبَأَنَا ابْنُ وَهْبٍ، قَالَ أَنْبَأَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ الْحَارِثِ، أَنَّ بُكَيْرًا، حَدَّثَهُ أَنَّ كُرَيْبًا مَوْلَى ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ حَدَّثَهُ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، أَنَّهُ رَأَى عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ الْحَارِثِ يُصَلِّي وَرَأْسُهُ مَعْقُوصٌ مِنْ وَرَائِهِ فَقَامَ فَجَعَلَ يَحُلُّهُ فَلَمَّا انْصَرَفَ أَقْبَلَ إِلَى ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ فَقَالَ مَا لَكَ وَرَأْسِي قَالَ إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " إِنَّمَا مَثَلُ هَذَا مَثَلُ الَّذِي يُصَلِّي وَهُوَ مَكْتُوفٌ " .
‘Amr ibn Sawad ibn al-Aswad ibn ‘Amr al-Sarhi—one of the descendants of ‘Abdullah ibn Sa‘d ibn Abi Sarh—reported to us; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: ‘Amr ibn al-Harith informed us that Bukayr told him that Kurayb, the freedman of Ibn ‘Abbas, told him, from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas, that he saw ‘Abdullah ibn al-Harith praying with his hair tied back. He stood up and began undoing it. When he finished praying, he came to Ibn ‘Abbas and said, ‘Why are you doing this to my head?’ He replied, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: “The likeness of this is that of someone who prays while bound.”’
Translation notes
The narration compares praying with the hair tied back to praying while مَكْتُوفٌ (“bound”). The English witness interprets this as hands tied behind the neck, but the Arabic wording itself does not specify that detail.
أَنَّهُ رَأَى عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ الْحَارِثِ يُصَلِّي وَرَأْسُهُ مَعْقُوصٌ مِنْ وَرَائِهِ فَقَامَ فَجَعَلَ يَحُلُّهُ فَلَمَّا انْصَرَفَ أَقْبَلَ إِلَى ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ فَقَالَ مَا لَكَ وَرَأْسِي قَالَ إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " إِنَّمَا مَثَلُ هَذَا مَثَلُ الَّذِي يُصَلِّي وَهُوَ مَكْتُوفٌ " .
The comparison term مَكْتُوفٌ means bound, but the Arabic does not state which limbs are bound or where.
Should the image be rendered simply as “bound,” or does the intended comparison specifically involve hands tied behind the neck as the English witness suggests?