32 - Chapter: The Parable of the Believer Who Recites the Qur'an and the Hypocrite Who Recites the Qur'an

5038 - 'Amr ibn 'Ali informed us, saying: Yazid ibn Zuray' narrated to us, saying: Sa'id narrated to us, from Qatadah, from Anas ibn Malik, that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The parable of the believer who recites the Qur'an is that of the citron, whose taste is sweet and whose scent is sweet. The parable of the believer who does not recite the Qur'an is that of the date, whose taste is sweet but which has no scent. The parable of the hypocrite who recites the Qur'an is that of the sweet basil, whose scent is sweet but whose taste is bitter. And the parable of the hypocrite who does not recite the Qur'an is that of the colocynth, whose taste is bitter and which has no scent."

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Al-Sindi said: His saying "al-'a'irah" means: the one that wanders back and forth between two flocks of sheep, seeking the ram, moving between the two flocks and settling with neither. Likewise, the hypocrite is with the believers outwardly and with the polytheists inwardly, following his whims and corrupt desires, so he became like that sheep. In this is the denial of manliness from the hypocrites. "Ghanamah" is one sheep, and "ghanam" is the plural. In the hadith, the plural is treated as a dual by interpreting it as two groups. Al-Suyuti narrated from al-Zamakhshari that he said in "al-Mufassal": The plural may be treated as a dual by interpreting it as two groups or two parties, and this hadith is an example of that.

(1) In a copy in the margin of (K): "ka-mathal" (like the parable of).
(2) Its chain of transmission is authentic. Sa'id is Ibn Abi 'Arubah, and he became confused [in his later years], but Yazid ibn Zuray' heard from him before his confusion. Qatadah is Ibn Di'amah.
It was also recorded by Ibn Hibban (771) via the route of Muhammad ibn al-Minhai, from Yazid ibn Zuray', with this chain.
It was recorded by Ahmad (19549) from Rawh ibn 'Ubadah, from Sa'id ibn Abi 'Arubah, with it.
It was also recorded by him (19614), (19615), and (19664), and by al-Bukhari (5020), (5059), (5427), and (7560), and by Muslim (797), and by Abu Dawud (4830), and by al-Tirmidhi (2865), and by the author in "al-Kubra" (6699), (8027), and (8028), and by Ibn Hibban (770) via multiple routes from Qatadah, with it.
It was also recorded by Abu Dawud (4829), and by the author in "al-Kubra" (6700) via two routes from Qatadah, from =