Sunan an-Nasa'i
Sunan an-Nasa'i 5402
أَخْبَرَنَا عِمْرَانُ بْنُ بَكَّارِ بْنِ رَاشِدٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ عَيَّاشٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا شُعَيْبٌ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو الزِّنَادِ، مِمَّا حَدَّثَهُ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ الأَعْرَجُ، مِمَّا ذَكَرَ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، يُحَدِّثُ بِهِ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ وَقَالَ " بَيْنَمَا امْرَأَتَانِ مَعَهُمَا ابْنَاهُمَا جَاءَ الذِّئْبُ فَذَهَبَ بِابْنِ إِحْدَاهُمَا فَقَالَتْ هَذِهِ لِصَاحِبَتِهَا إِنَّمَا ذَهَبَ بِابْنِكِ . وَقَالَتِ الأُخْرَى إِنَّمَا ذَهَبَ بِابْنِكِ . فَتَحَاكَمَتَا إِلَى دَاوُدَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ فَقَضَى بِهِ لِلْكُبْرَى فَخَرَجَتَا إِلَى سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ دَاوُدَ فَأَخْبَرَتَاهُ فَقَالَ ائْتُونِي بِالسِّكِّينِ أَشُقُّهُ بَيْنَهُمَا . فَقَالَتِ الصُّغْرَى لاَ تَفْعَلْ يَرْحَمُكَ اللَّهُ هُوَ ابْنُهَا . فَقَضَى بِهِ لِلصُّغْرَى " . قَالَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ وَاللَّهِ مَا سَمِعْتُ بِالسِّكِّينِ قَطُّ إِلاَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ مَا كُنَّا نَقُولُ إِلاَّ الْمُدْيَةَ .
It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah said: There were two women, each with a son. A wolf came and carried off one of the boys. One woman said to the other, ‘It took your son,’ and the other said, ‘No, it took your son.’ They brought their case to David, peace be upon him, and he ruled in favor of the older woman. They then went to Solomon son of David and told him what had happened. He said, ‘Bring me a knife so I can divide the child between you.’ The younger woman said, ‘Do not do that—may Allah have mercy on you! He is her son.’ So Solomon ruled that the child belonged to the younger woman. Abu Hurairah added: By Allah, I had never heard the word sikkin (‘knife’) before that day; we used only the word mudyah.
Translation notes
The closing sentence comments on two Arabic words for ‘knife’: sikkin and mudyah.