Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2038
حَدَّثَنَا بِشْرُ بْنُ مُعَاذٍ الْعَقَدِيُّ، قال حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَوَانَةَ، عَنْ زِيَادِ بْنِ عِلاَقَةَ، عَنْ أُسَامَةَ بْنِ شَرِيكٍ، قَالَ قَالَتِ الأَعْرَابُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَلاَ نَتَدَاوَى قَالَ " نَعَمْ يَا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ تَدَاوَوْا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمْ يَضَعْ دَاءً إِلاَّ وَضَعَ لَهُ شِفَاءً أَوْ قَالَ دَوَاءً إِلاَّ دَاءً وَاحِدًا " . قَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا هُوَ قَالَ " الْهَرَمُ " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنِ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ وَأَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ وَأَبِي خُزَامَةَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ وَابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ . وَهَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Bishr ibn Mu‘adh al-‘Aqadi said: Abu ‘Awanah narrated to us, from Ziyad ibn ‘Ilaqah, from Usamah ibn Sharik, who said: The Bedouins asked, “Messenger of Allah, should we seek treatment?” He replied: “Yes, servants of Allah, seek treatment. Allah has not placed any disease without also placing a cure—or he said, a remedy—for it, except for one disease.” They asked, “Messenger of Allah, what is it?” He said: “Old age.” Abu ‘Isa said: Reports on this topic are also related from Ibn Mas‘ud, Abu Hurayrah, Abu Khuzamah from his father, and Ibn ‘Abbas. This hadith is hasan sahih.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source explicitly gives shifa’ or dawa’ as alternative wording for the remedy; the final exception is al-haram, old age.
قَالَ قَالَتِ الأَعْرَابُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَلاَ نَتَدَاوَى قَالَ " نَعَمْ يَا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ تَدَاوَوْا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمْ يَضَعْ دَاءً إِلاَّ وَضَعَ لَهُ شِفَاءً أَوْ قَالَ دَوَاءً إِلاَّ دَاءً وَاحِدًا " .
The source preserves an alternative, aw qala dawa’, between shifa’ (cure/healing) and dawa’ (remedy/medicine).
Does “a cure—or he said, a remedy” keep the speaker’s wording uncertainty explicit?