Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2005
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عَبْدَةَ الضَّبِّيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو وَهْبٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الْمُبَارَكِ، أَنَّهُ وَصَفَ حُسْنَ الْخُلُقِ فَقَالَ هُوَ بَسْطُ الْوَجْهِ وَبَذْلُ الْمَعْرُوفِ وَكَفُّ الأَذَى .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn ‘Abdah al-Dabbi narrated to us: Abu Wahb narrated to us, from ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak, who described good character: “It is a cheerful face, doing good, and refraining from harm.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
This is ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak’s description of good character, not a prophetic hadith in the source block.
أَنَّهُ وَصَفَ حُسْنَ الْخُلُقِ فَقَالَ هُوَ بَسْطُ الْوَجْهِ وَبَذْلُ الْمَعْرُوفِ وَكَفُّ الأَذَى .
بذل المعروف can be rendered as offering or doing what is good; the English witness’s “doing one’s best in good” may imply effort rather than generosity in beneficial acts.
Does “doing good” preserve the broad expression without adding an effort-based sense?