Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2027
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مَنِيعٍ، حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ هَارُونَ، عَنْ أَبِي غَسَّانَ، مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُطَرِّفٍ عَنْ حَسَّانَ بْنِ عَطِيَّةَ، عَنْ أَبِي أُمَامَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " الْحَيَاءُ وَالْعِيُّ شُعْبَتَانِ مِنَ الإِيمَانِ وَالْبَذَاءُ وَالْبَيَانُ شُعْبَتَانِ مِنَ النِّفَاقِ " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ غَرِيبٌ إِنَّمَا نَعْرِفُهُ مِنْ حَدِيثِ أَبِي غَسَّانَ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُطَرِّفٍ . قَالَ وَالْعِيُّ قِلَّةُ الْكَلاَمِ وَالْبَذَاءُ هُوَ الْفُحْشُ فِي الْكَلاَمِ وَالْبَيَانُ هُوَ كَثْرَةُ الْكَلاَمِ مِثْلُ هَؤُلاَءِ الْخُطَبَاءِ الَّذِينَ يَخْطُبُونَ فَيُوَسِّعُونَ فِي الْكَلاَمِ وَيَتَفَصَّحُونَ فِيهِ مِنْ مَدْحِ النَّاسِ فِيمَا لاَ يُرْضِي اللَّهَ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn Mani‘ narrated to us: Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us, from Abu Ghassan—Muhammad ibn Mutarrif—from Hassan ibn ‘Atiyyah, from Abu Umamah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “Modesty and reticence are two branches of faith; foul speech and verbosity are two branches of hypocrisy.” Abu ‘Isa said: This hadith is hasan gharib; we know it only through the narration of Abu Ghassan, Muhammad ibn Mutarrif.
He explained: ‘Iyy means speaking little; badha’ is obscenity in speech; and bayan means abundant speech, as with preachers who elaborate at length and affect eloquence in praising people in ways that do not please Allah.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source defines ‘iyy as speaking little and bayan as abundant speech, then criticizes a specific kind of expansive, affected praise. The translation follows that local gloss rather than the broader positive sense of bayan as eloquence.
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " الْحَيَاءُ وَالْعِيُّ شُعْبَتَانِ مِنَ الإِيمَانِ وَالْبَذَاءُ وَالْبَيَانُ شُعْبَتَانِ مِنَ النِّفَاقِ " .
The terms al-‘iyy and al-bayan have broader possible senses, but the source’s following gloss defines the former as little speech and the latter as abundant speech.
Does “reticence” and “verbosity” preserve the specific meanings supplied by Abu ‘Isa?
قَالَ وَالْعِيُّ قِلَّةُ الْكَلاَمِ وَالْبَذَاءُ هُوَ الْفُحْشُ فِي الْكَلاَمِ وَالْبَيَانُ هُوَ كَثْرَةُ الْكَلاَمِ مِثْلُ هَؤُلاَءِ الْخُطَبَاءِ الَّذِينَ يَخْطُبُونَ فَيُوَسِّعُونَ فِي الْكَلاَمِ وَيَتَفَصَّحُونَ فِيهِ مِنْ مَدْحِ النَّاسِ فِيمَا لاَ يُرْضِي اللَّهَ .
The example criticizes preachers who elaborate and affect eloquence in praising people in ways displeasing to Allah.
Does the translation preserve the source’s example without generalizing its criticism to all preaching or eloquence?