Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 13479

Sayyiduna al-Ash'ath bin Qays (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with the delegation of Kindah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "Do you have any children?" I said: "A son was born to me just as I was about to set out to come to you, from the daughter of Jamad. I wished that in his place I had been given the means to feed the people to their fill." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not say that. In children there is coolness of the eyes, and if they die there is reward as well. As for what you say, children do make a man cowardly and grieved; children do make one cowardly and grieved."
Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Mujalid bin Sa'id, who is da'if (weak), though he has also been declared trustworthy; the rest of the narrators of Ahmad are the narrators of the Sahih.