ʿUthmān ibn Khuthaym (1) narrated, from Saʿīd ibn [Abī] Rāshid, from Yaʿlā ibn Murrah, who said:

Al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn came running toward the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him. One of them reached him before the other, so he slipped his hand beneath the child’s neck and tucked him under his arm. Then the second arrived, and he placed his other hand beneath that one’s neck and drew him to his chest. He kissed this one, and then he kissed that one, and then he said:

“O Allah, I love them, so love them.”

After that he said:

“O people! A child makes one tight-fisted, faint-hearted, and ignorant.” (2)

ʿAbd al-Razzāq likewise related it, from Maʿmar, from Ibn Khuthaym, from Muḥammad ibn al-Aswad ibn Khalaf, from his father: that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—took al-Ḥasan, kissed him, then turned to those present and said:

“A child makes one tight-fisted and faint-hearted.” (3)

Ibn Khuzaymah said: ʿAbdah ibn ʿAbdullah al-Khuzāʿī narrated to us; Zayd ibn al-Ḥabbāb narrated to us. Abū Yaʿlā likewise said: Abū Khaythamah narrated to us; Zayd ibn al-Ḥabbāb narrated to us; Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid told me; ʿAbdullah ibn Buraydah told me, from his father, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—was delivering a sermon when al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn appeared, wearing two red shirts. They were stumbling as they walked. The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—came down from the pulpit, picked them up, and set them on his lap. Then he said: ‘Allah has spoken the truth: “Your wealth and your children are only a trial” (al-Taghābun 64:15). I looked at these two youngsters and could not restrain myself.’ He then resumed his sermon.

Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, and Ibn Mājah (4) also transmitted it through the narration of Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid. Al-Tirmidhī said: “It is ḥasan gharīb; we know it only through his report.”

Muḥammad al-Ḍamrī likewise narrated it from Zayd ibn Arqam, mentioning the incident for al-Ḥasan alone.

In the hadith of ʿAbdullah ibn Shaddād, from his father: the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—led them in one of the late-afternoon prayers. During it he performed a prostration that he prolonged at length. When he concluded the prayer, the people asked him about that. He said:

“My son—meaning al-Ḥasan—mounted me, and I disliked to hurry him until he had finished what he wanted.” (5)

Al-Thawrī (6) narrated, from Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir, who said:

“I entered upon the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—while he was carrying al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn on his back, walking on all fours. I said, ‘What a fine camel you are!’ He replied, ‘And what excellent riders they are.’”