Musnad Ahmad

It is narrated from Hazrat Ashaj bin Asr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "There are two qualities in you which Allah Almighty loves very much." I asked, "Which qualities are those?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Forbearance and modesty." I asked, "Were these habits present in me from the beginning or did they develop later?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "They have been in you from the beginning." I, expressing gratitude to Allah, said, "All praise is due to Allah who created me with two qualities beloved to Him."

A companion who was part of the delegation of Banu Abdul Qais narrates that we brought a basket of dried or Barni dates as a gift for the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked, "What is this?" We replied, "It is a gift." The Prophet (peace be upon him) probably took out a date from it, looked at it, then put it back and said, "Deliver this basket to the family of Muhammad." On this occasion, people asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) various questions, one of which was about drinking vessels. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Do not drink water or nabidh from Dubba, Hantam, Naqir, or Muzaffat. Drink from that lawful vessel whose mouth is tied." One of us said, "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), do you know what Dubba, Hantam, Naqir, and Muzaffat are?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "I know very well what kind of vessels they are. Tell me, which area of Hajar is the most honorable?" We said, "Shaqar." The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "By Allah! I have entered it and have also held its key." The narrator says that I forgot part of this hadith, but later Ubaidullah bin Abi Jarwah reminded me that I was standing at Ain Zara. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "O Allah! Forgive Abdul Qais, for they became Muslims willingly, without any compulsion. Now they will neither be ashamed nor destroyed, whereas some people of our tribe do not become Muslims until they are disgraced and destroyed." Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) turned his face towards the Qiblah and said, "The best people among the people of the East are the Banu Abdul Qais." The previous hadith is also narrated through this second chain.

Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated to us, he said: 'Awf narrated to us, from Abu al-Qamus, he said: One of the delegation who came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, narrated to me—and if he did not say: Qays ibn al-Nu'man, then I have forgotten his name—then he mentioned the hadith, he said: And he earnestly supplicated for 'Abd al-Qays, and his face was here from the qiblah, meaning to the right of the qiblah, until he faced the qiblah, then he supplicated for 'Abd al-Qays, then he said: "Indeed, the best of the people of the east is 'Abd al-Qays."

Some people from the delegation of Abdul Qais narrate that when we presented ourselves before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), his happiness knew no bounds. When we approached, he made space for us, and we sat there. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) welcomed us, prayed for us, and looking towards us, asked, "Who is your leader?" We all pointed towards Mundhir bin 'Aiz. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Is this Ashajj?" In fact, there was a mark on his face from the strike of a donkey's hoof; this was the first day he was given this name. We replied, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah! (peace and blessings be upon him)" After this, some people who had lagged behind tied their mounts, gathered their belongings, removed the disarray, changed out of their travel clothes, put on fine garments, and then presented themselves before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had stretched out his blessed feet and was reclining. When Ashajj approached, people made space for him and said, "O Ashajj! Please come here." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also sat up straight and drew in his feet, and said, "Ashajj! Come here." So he went and sat to the right of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) welcomed him, treated him with kindness and grace, inquired about their towns, and mentioned each settlement by name, such as Safa, Mashqar, and other towns. They replied, "O Messenger of Allah! (peace and blessings be upon him) May our parents be sacrificed for you, you know the names of our towns even better than we do." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "I have been to your regions, and there I was treated with generosity." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned to the Ansar and said, "O group of Ansar! Honor your brothers, for they are most similar to you in Islam, in meeting, and in glad tidings. They have embraced Islam willingly, without any compulsion, honor, or oppression, at a time when others refused to accept Islam and were killed." The next day, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked them, "How did you find the hospitality and honor of your brothers?" They replied, "They proved to be the best of brothers; they provided us with warm and comfortable bedding, fed us the best food, and morning and evening taught us the Book of our Lord and the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was very pleased to hear this. Then he turned to each of us individually, and we presented before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) what we had learned, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also taught us some things. Among us were some who had learned the Tashahhud, Surah Al-Fatiha, one or two other surahs, and some Sunnahs. After this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned to us and asked, "Do you have provisions for the journey?" People happily ran to their tents, and each person brought a bag of dates and placed it before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on a spread. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), with his blessed hand, pointed with a stick he was holding—which he sometimes pressed against his side, and which was longer than a yard but shorter than two yards—and said, "Do you call this 'ta'zuuz'?" We replied, "Yes!" Then, pointing to another bag, he said, "Do you call this 'barni'?" We replied, "Yes!" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "This is the best and most beneficial date." When we took our food back, we thought that now we would cultivate this the most, and our desire for it increased, so much so that most of our orchards began to grow barni dates. Meanwhile, Ashajj said, "O Messenger of Allah! (peace and blessings be upon him) Our region is barren and salty; if we drink these beverages, our complexion will change and our bellies will swell?" "Do not drink from Hantham and Naqir; rather, you should drink from your water skins." Ashajj said, "O Messenger of Allah! (peace and blessings be upon him) May my parents be sacrificed for you, allow us this much (indicating with both palms)?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also indicated with his palms and said, "If I allow you this much..."

The people of the delegation of Abdul Qais say that they heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "O Allah! Count us among Your chosen, non-mahjool, and those who come as a delegation." The people asked, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who are meant by Allah's chosen servants?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, "The righteous servants of Allah are meant." The people asked, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who are the non-mahjool servants?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, "Those whose limbs will be shining due to ablution." The people asked, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who are the servants who come as a delegation?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, "They are those people of this Ummah who will appear before Allah as a delegation along with their Prophet."