Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 10546

Sahl bin Abi Umamah narrates that he and his father visited Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him). This was in the time of Umar bin Abd al-Aziz, when he was the governor. He led a short prayer, as if it were the prayer of a traveller or close to it. When he had ended it with the salam, he (my father) said: "May Allah Almighty have mercy on you; was this the obligatory prayer, or a voluntary prayer you offered?" He said: "It was the obligatory prayer, and it is the prayer of the Messenger of Allah; I have not fallen short in any of it, except for something I forgot. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Do not be harsh on yourselves, lest harshness be imposed on you. Some people were harsh on themselves, so Allah Almighty imposed harshness on them, and their remnants remain in the cloisters and monasteries. (Allah Almighty says:) And monasticism, which they innovated; We did not prescribe it for them.'" Then, when the next day came, the people said: "Shall we ride out, look around and take a lesson?" He said: "Yes." So they all rode out, and there was a deserted settlement whose people had perished and come to an end, and only ruins remained. The people said: "Do you recognize this place?" He said: "No one knows this place and its inhabitants better than I. These are the people of a land whom transgression and envy destroyed. Indeed, envy extinguishes the light of good deeds, and transgression confirms that or denies it. The eye commits fornication, and the palm, the foot, the hand and the tongue (commit fornication), and the private part confirms that or denies it."
Abu Ya'la recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih except Sa'id bin Abd al-Rahman bin Abi al-Amya', who is thiqah (trustworthy).