Musnad Ahmad

Bishr Taghlibi, who used to sit with Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him), says: In Damascus, there lived a companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who was known as Ibn Hanzalah. He was a man of reclusive nature and had very little interaction with people. His habit was that he would keep performing prayers, and when he finished, he would engage in tasbih and takbir, and then go to his home. Once, we were sitting with Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) when he (Ibn Hanzalah) passed by us. Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him, "Tell us something from which we may benefit and you will not be harmed." He replied: Once, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched an army. When that army returned, one of the men came and sat in the gathering of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and said to the man sitting beside him, "If only you had seen the scene when we confronted the enemy! At that moment, so-and-so person raised his spear and, while striking a disbeliever, said, 'Take this! I am a young man from Ghifar.'" What is your opinion regarding this statement of his? The man replied, "In my opinion, he has wasted his reward." When the other man heard this, he said, "I see nothing wrong in it." Thereupon, the two began to argue, until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also heard this and said, "Subhan Allah! There is nothing wrong in praising him, and he will also receive the reward." I saw that Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) became very happy after hearing this hadith from him, and raising his head towards him, he asked, "Did you yourself hear this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?" He replied in the affirmative. Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) repeated this question so many times that I thought he would not let him go until he made him sit down on his knees.

After that, he once again passed by us, and Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) requested, as before, for a hadith in the same words. He replied that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to us: The one who spends on a horse in the way of Allah is like the person who keeps his hands open for charity, never closing them.

After that, he passed by us once again, and Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) requested, as before, for a narration of a hadith in the same words. He replied that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) once said: "Khuraim Asadi is an excellent man, if only his hair were not so long and he did not let his lower garment hang below his ankles." When Khuraim learned of this, he took a knife and cut his hair up to half of his ears and raised his lower garment up to the middle of his shins. My father relates that once I went to Hazrat Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), and there I saw an elderly man whose hair was above his ears and his lower garment was up to his shins. I asked people about him, and they told me that he was Khuraim Asadi (may Allah be pleased with him).

After that, once again he passed by us, and Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) requested him as before, so he replied, "I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: 'You are going to meet your brothers, so set right your mounts and your clothes, for Allah does not like obscene or foul speech.'"