Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 14321

Sayyiduna Rabi'ah al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I used to serve the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He gave me a piece of land, and he also gave Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) a piece of land. When worldly wealth came, a dispute arose between us about a date palm. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It falls within my boundary. I said: It falls within my boundary. During this, words were exchanged between me and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said something to me that I disliked, and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) felt remorse, so he said to me: O Rabi'ah! You too say something like it back to me, so that it becomes retribution. I said: I will not do so. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Either you do so, or I will complain against you before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I said: I will not do so. Then he left the land. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and I too set off, walking behind him. Some people from the tribe of Aslam had come, and they said: May Allah Almighty have mercy on Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)! Why does he want to complain against you before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when it was he who said things about you? I said: Do you know who this is? This is Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). He is one of the two. He is the elder of the Muslims. Beware lest he turn around and see you, that you want to help me against him, and then he becomes angry and goes to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and because of his anger the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) too becomes angry, and because of the anger of both of them Allah Almighty too becomes angry, and Rabi'ah is ruined. The people said: Then what do you tell us to do? Sayyiduna Rabi'ah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Go back. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). After him I too went alone; walking behind him, I came into the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) told the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the whole matter as it had happened. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his head, looked at me and said: O Rabi'ah, what is the matter between you and al-Siddiq? I submitted: O Messenger of Allah! It happened like this and like this; he said something to me that I did not like, and then he said to me: You too say the same as I said, so that it becomes retribution. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You did right; you were not to answer him back at all. Rather, say: O Abu Bakr, may Allah Almighty forgive you. The narrator says: So Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) went away weeping.
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and Ahmad recorded something similar within a long hadith which has already passed in the chapter on marriage. Its chain contains a narrator, Mubarak bin Fadalah, whose hadith is hasan (good); the remaining narrators of this narration are thiqat (trustworthy).