Virtues of the Quran's Chapters and Verses
Special Virtues of the Qur'an's Chapters and Verses 7
عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ كُنَّا فِي مَسِيرٍ لَنَا فَنَزَلْنَا فَجَاءَتْ جَارِيَةٌ فَقَالَتْ إِنَّ سَيِّدَ الْحَىِّ سَلِيمٌ، وَإِنَّ نَفَرَنَا غُيَّبٌ فَهَلْ مِنْكُمْ رَاقٍ فَقَامَ مَعَهَا رَجُلٌ مَا كُنَّا نَأْبُنُهُ بِرُقْيَةٍ فَرَقَاهُ فَبَرَأَ فَأَمَرَ لَهُ بِثَلاَثِينَ شَاةً وَسَقَانَا لَبَنًا فَلَمَّا رَجَعَ قُلْنَا لَهُ أَكُنْتَ تُحْسِنُ رُقْيَةً أَوْ كُنْتَ تَرْقِي قَالَ لاَ مَا رَقَيْتُ إِلاَّ بِأُمِّ الْكِتَابِ. قُلْنَا لاَ تُحْدِثُوا شَيْئًا حَتَّى نَأْتِيَ ـ أَوْ نَسْأَلَ ـ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَلَمَّا قَدِمْنَا الْمَدِينَةَ ذَكَرْنَاهُ لِلنَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ " وَمَا كَانَ يُدْرِيهِ أَنَّهَا رُقْيَةٌ اقْسِمُوا وَاضْرِبُوا لِي بِسَهْمٍ ".
Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī said: We were on a journey of ours and stopped. A young woman came and said, ‘The chief of the clan is salīm, and our men are away. Is there anyone among you who can perform ruqya?’ A man went with her; we had not thought him to know ruqya. He performed ruqya over the chief, and he recovered. The chief ordered that he be given thirty sheep and gave us milk to drink. When the man returned, we said to him, ‘Did you know how to perform ruqya, or were you performing ruqya?’ He said, ‘No. I performed ruqya only with the Mother of the Book.’ We said, ‘Do not do anything until we come to—or ask—the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace).’ When we came to Medina, we mentioned it to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), and he said, ‘How did he know that it was a ruqya? Divide them, and allot me a share.’
Translation notes
قَالَ كُنَّا فِي مَسِيرٍ لَنَا فَنَزَلْنَا فَجَاءَتْ جَارِيَةٌ فَقَالَتْ إِنَّ سَيِّدَ الْحَىِّ سَلِيمٌ،
The source uses سَلِيمٌ (salīm); its intended sense here is not certain from this wording alone. The English witness gives a different version involving a scorpion sting or snakebite.
Should salīm be retained transliterated, or does a verified reading of this exact report support an idiomatic rendering?
" وَمَا كَانَ يُدْرِيهِ أَنَّهَا رُقْيَةٌ اقْسِمُوا وَاضْرِبُوا لِي بِسَهْمٍ ".
The English witness is a substantially different version: it adds a sting or bite, a refusal of hospitality and prior payment bargaining, blowing during recitation, and a longer prophetic reply. These details are not in this Arabic occurrence.
Does the English witness correspond to a different recension or occurrence, and should its linkage be reviewed?