Sayyiduna Sa'id bin Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Among our houses there lived a weak, sick and emaciated man. Suddenly the tribe discovered that he was committing fornication with one of their slave-women. Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned this to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Inflict his prescribed punishment (hadd) upon him." He said: "O Messenger of Allah, if we inflict the hadd upon him, we will kill him; he is very weak." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take for him a cluster of date stalks with a hundred twigs in it, then strike him with it a single time."
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / باب السين / 5500