An-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths
Hadith 28, 40 Hadith an-Nawawi
عَنْ أَبِي نَجِيحٍ الْعِرْبَاضِ بْنِ سَارِيَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: "وَعَظَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم مَوْعِظَةً وَجِلَتْ مِنْهَا الْقُلُوبُ، وَذَرَفَتْ مِنْهَا الْعُيُونُ، فَقُلْنَا: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ! كَأَنَّهَا مَوْعِظَةُ مُوَدِّعٍ فَأَوْصِنَا، قَالَ: أُوصِيكُمْ بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ، وَالسَّمْعِ وَالطَّاعَةِ وَإِنْ تَأَمَّرَ عَلَيْكُمْ عَبْدٌ، فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ يَعِشْ مِنْكُمْ فَسَيَرَى اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا، فَعَلَيْكُمْ بِسُنَّتِي وَسُنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ الْمَهْدِيينَ، عَضُّوا عَلَيْهَا بِالنَّوَاجِذِ، وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَمُحْدَثَاتِ الْأُمُورِ؛ فَإِنَّ كُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ". [رَوَاهُ أَبُو دَاوُدَ]، وَاَلتِّرْمِذِيُّ [رقم:266] وَقَالَ: حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Najih al-‘Irbad ibn Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) admonished us with an admonition that made hearts tremble and eyes shed tears. We said, “O Messenger of Allah, it is as though this were the admonition of one bidding farewell, so advise us.” He said, “I advise you to be mindful of Allah, and to listen and obey even if a slave is made your ruler. Whoever among you lives on will see much disagreement. So hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs; cling to them with your molars. Beware of newly introduced matters, for every innovation is misguidance.” [Narrated by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi [no. 266], who said: “A hasan sahih hadith.”]
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
وَالسَّمْعِ وَالطَّاعَةِ وَإِنْ تَأَمَّرَ عَلَيْكُمْ عَبْدٌ،
The supplied English witness inserts “[your leader]”; the Arabic says to listen and obey and does not state that object here.
Is the bracketed object a sourced explanatory gloss? The translation leaves it unstated.
قَالَ: أُوصِيكُمْ بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ،
The Arabic تقوى الله is rendered without a supplied approved glossary; the witness glosses it as fear of Allah.
Which project-approved rendering of taqwa is preferred?