2229 — “Why did you not teach him when he was ignorant, and feed him when he was hungry or starving?”

Abu Dawud (1/408–409), Ibn Majah (2/44), al-Hakim (4/133), al-Bayhaqi (10/2), Ahmad (4/166–167), and Ibn Saʿd (7/55) narrated it from Abu Bishr, from ʿUbadah ibn Shurahbil, who said: “A year of famine afflicted me, so I entered one of the walled gardens of Medina. I rubbed some ears of grain, ate from them, and carried some away in my garment. Its owner came, struck me, and took my garment. So I went to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and he said to him the words cited above. He then ordered him to return my garment to me and give me a wasq or half a wasq of food.”

Al-Hakim said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic,” and al-Dhahabi agreed with him. It is as they said.

2230 — “Whatever your heart finds objectionable, leave it.”

ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Mubarak narrated it in al-Zuhd (Asceticism) (824 and 1162): Ibn Lahiʿah informed us; he said: Yazid ibn Abi Habib narrated to us that Suwayd ibn Qays informed him that ʿAbd Allah ibn Muʿawiyah ibn Hudayj informed him that “a man asked the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, saying: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is permissible for me and what is forbidden to me?’ The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, remained silent. The man repeated the question three times, and on each occasion the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, remained silent. He then said: ‘Who is the questioner?’ The man replied: ‘Here I am, O Messenger of Allah!’ He then tapped with his two fingers and said the words cited above.”

I say: This is an authentic mursal chain of transmission, and its narrators are trustworthy. Ibn Lahiʿah’s reports are sound when transmitted from him by the ʿAbādilah—the narrators named ʿAbd Allah—and Ibn al-Mubarak is one of them. It has a supporting narration in the hadith of Abu Umamah, who said: