Like the colocynth: its scent is bitter and its taste is bitter.¹

This is a good and authentic hadith. Shu'bah also narrated it from Qatadah.

3082 — Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Khallal and others narrated to us, saying: 'Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, saying: Ma'mar informed us, from al-Zuhri, from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The likeness of the believer is that of a crop; the winds continually bend it, and the believer is continually afflicted with trials. And the likeness of the hypocrite is that of a cedar tree; it does not sway until it is uprooted."²

---
¹ Its chain of transmission is authentic. It was also recorded by al-Bukhari (5020), Muslim (797), Abu Dawud (4830), Ibn Majah (214), and al-Nasa'i 8/124–125. It is also in *Musnad Ahmad* (19549) and *Sahih Ibn Hibban* (770) and (771).

Al-Sindi said: His saying "al-utrujjah" — with a damma on the hamzah and the ra', and a shaddah on the jim — is well-known. The gist is that faith is likened to inner goodness, like the pleasant taste, because through it comes inner purity; and the Qur'an is likened to outward goodness, like the pleasant scent, for it is heard by others and natures incline toward it. And Allah Most High knows best.

² Its chain of transmission is authentic. It was also recorded by al-Bukhari (5644), Muslim (2809), and al-Nasa'i in *al-Kubra* (7480). It is also in *Musnad Ahmad* (7192).

His saying "tufayyi'uhu" means: it bends it.

"Shajar al-arz" (cedar tree): it is a great, hard tree of the pine family, evergreen, growing very tall, from which ships are made. Its most famous variety is the cedar of Lebanon.

"Tastahsida" — al-Qadi 'Iyad said in *al-Mashariq* 1/205: i.e., it is pulled out from its root, from *al-hasd*, which means eradication. Some narrated it as "tustahsad" with a damma on the ta' and a fatha on the sad. The more appropriate reading here is with a fatha on the ta' and a kasra on the sad.

In *Fath al-Bari* 10/107: al-Muhallab said: The meaning of the hadith is that the believer, wherever he is...