Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2224
حَدَّثَنَا بُنْدَارٌ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو دَاوُدَ، حَدَّثَنَا حُمَيْدُ بْنُ مِهْرَانَ، عَنْ سَعْدِ بْنِ أَوْسٍ، عَنْ زِيَادِ بْنِ كُسَيْبٍ الْعَدَوِيِّ، قَالَ كُنْتُ مَعَ أَبِي بَكْرَةَ تَحْتَ مِنْبَرِ ابْنِ عَامِرٍ وَهُوَ يَخْطُبُ وَعَلَيْهِ ثِيَابٌ رِقَاقٌ فَقَالَ أَبُو بِلاَلٍ انْظُرُوا إِلَى أَمِيرِنَا يَلْبَسُ ثِيَابَ الْفُسَّاقِ . فَقَالَ أَبُو بَكْرَةَ اسْكُتْ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " مَنْ أَهَانَ سُلْطَانَ اللَّهِ فِي الأَرْضِ أَهَانَهُ اللَّهُ " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ غَرِيبٌ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Bunḍār narrated to us; Abū Dāwūd narrated to us; Ḥumayd ibn Mihrān narrated to us, from Sa‘d ibn Aws, from Ziyād ibn Kusayb al-‘Adawī, who said: I was with Abū Bakrah beneath the pulpit of Ibn ‘Āmir while he was delivering a sermon, wearing fine, thin garments. Abū Bilāl said, “Look at our amīr—he wears the clothes of the wicked!” Abū Bakrah said, “Be quiet! I heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘Whoever humiliates the authority of Allah on earth, Allah will humiliate him.’”
Abū ‘Īsā said: This is a ḥasan gharīb hadith.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The phrase sulṭān Allāh fī al-arḍ is rendered literally as “the authority of Allah on earth”; the English witness instead says “Allah’s Sultan.”
مَنْ أَهَانَ سُلْطَانَ اللَّهِ فِي الأَرْضِ أَهَانَهُ اللَّهُ
Sulṭān Allāh may be rendered as “Allah’s authority” or “Allah’s ruler”; the English witness retains “Sultan.”
Which English rendering best conveys this expression without implying more than the Arabic states?