Abu al-Ahwas narrates: Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), that is, the narrator's father, came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with sheets of cloth on his body. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Awf, is it not so that when your she-camel gives birth, the ears of the young are sound, and then you go to that young one and slit its ears and say: This is a bahirah; or you go to some young one and split its ears and say: This is a surum? Do not do this. The forearm of Allah Almighty is stronger than your forearm, and the razor of Allah Almighty is sharper than your razor. Eat what Allah Almighty has granted you as lawful, and do not make anything of your wealth unlawful. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: O Awf bin Malik, is your slave who obeys you and follows your command more beloved to you? Or is your slave who neither obeys you nor follows your command more beloved to you? Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: No! Rather, my slave who obeys me and follows my command (is certainly more beloved). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: That is how you people are before your Lord.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. In this hadith he named the Companion as Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him). Part of this report is recorded in the "Sunan" as a hadith narrated by Sayyiduna Malik bin Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him), the father of the narrator named Abu al-Malih. Al-Tabarani's chain contains a narrator, Abd al-Rahman al-Mas'udi; he is thiqah (trustworthy), but he suffered from ikhtilat (confusion in his memory).