- Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “You will covet leadership, yet it will become a source of remorse on the Day of Resurrection. How fine it is as a wet-nurse, and how dreadful as a weaner.” Recorded by al-Bukhari (1).
Vocabulary Notes
• sataḥriṣūna (you will covet): from ḥirṣ—greed and an intense desire for something.
• al-imārah (leadership): the office of an amir, i.e., political authority.
• nadāmah (remorse): sorrow and regret for what one has done. Al-Jurjānī said, “Regret is a grief that strikes a person, making him wish his action had never occurred.”
• fa-niʿmat / bi’sat: niʿma (“how excellent”) and bi’sa (“how wretched”) are fixed past-tense verbs used for praise and blame; the attached silent feminine tāʾ is merely a grammatical marker.
• al-murḍiʿah (the nursing mother): from riḍāʿ (nursing). The hadith likens the short-lived, immediate benefits of holding office to the brief period of suckling.
• al-fāṭimah (the weaner): feminine of fāṭim. Just as weaning abruptly ends the infant’s enjoyment, the benefits of authority soon cease, leaving only hardship and regret.