Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3381
حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ لَهِيعَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي الزُّبَيْرِ، عَنْ جَابِرٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " مَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ يَدْعُو بِدُعَاءٍ إِلاَّ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ مَا سَأَلَ أَوْ كَفَّ عَنْهُ مِنَ السُّوءِ مِثْلَهُ مَا لَمْ يَدْعُ بِإِثْمٍ أَوْ قَطِيعَةِ رَحِمٍ " . وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ وَعُبَادَةَ بْنِ الصَّامِتِ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Qutaybah narrated to us: Ibn Lahi‘ah narrated to us, from Abu al-Zubayr, from Jabir, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘There is no one who makes a supplication without Allah granting him what he asked for or averting from him an equivalent harm, so long as he does not supplicate for a sin or for severing ties of kinship.’ Reports on this subject are also transmitted from Abu Sa‘id and ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic places two limits on the promise: the supplication must not ask for a sin or for severance of family ties. Otherwise, Allah either grants what is requested or averts a comparable harm.