Sunan an-Nasa'i
Sunan an-Nasa'i 2600
أَخْبَرَنَا مَحْمُودُ بْنُ غَيْلاَنَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ عُقْبَةَ، عَنْ سَمُرَةَ بْنِ جُنْدُبٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " الْمَسْأَلَةُ كَدٌّ يَكُدُّ بِهَا الرَّجُلُ وَجْهَهُ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَسْأَلَ الرَّجُلُ سُلْطَانًا أَوْ فِي أَمْرٍ لاَ بُدَّ مِنْهُ " .
Mahmud ibn Ghaylan reported: Waki narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us, from Abd al-Malik, from Zayd ibn Uqbah, from Samurah ibn Jundub, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Asking is a hardship by which a man wears down his face, except when he asks a person in authority or asks about a matter he cannot do without.
Translation notes
This version describes asking as a hardship that wears down the face and gives the authority and unavoidable matter as exceptions; the idiom is flagged for review.
قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " الْمَسْأَلَةُ كَدٌّ يَكُدُّ بِهَا الرَّجُلُ وَجْهَهُ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَسْأَلَ الرَّجُلُ سُلْطَانًا أَوْ فِي أَمْرٍ لاَ بُدَّ مِنْهُ " .
Kadd yakuddu bihi wajhahu is an idiom about the toll of asking, while the exception is divided between an authority and an unavoidable matter.
Should the image be rendered as wearing down the face, and should the exception be understood as two alternatives?