Sunan an-Nasa'i
Sunan an-Nasa'i 3634
Arabic hadith text
أَخْبَرَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، قَالَ لَوْ غَضَّ النَّاسُ إِلَى الرُّبُعِ لأَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " الثُّلُثَ وَالثُّلُثُ كَثِيرٌ أَوْ كَبِيرٌ ".
Translation
Qutaybah ibn Sa'id reported to us: Sufyan narrated to us, from Hisham ibn 'Urwah, from his father, from Ibn 'Abbas, who said: If people were to reduce their bequests to one-quarter, that would be better, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘One-third—and one-third is much’—or ‘great.’
Translation notes
The source attributes to Ibn 'Abbas the view that one-quarter would be preferable, citing the Prophetic statement that one-third is much.