Hadith #354

Arabic Text

English Translation

It was narrated from 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr (رضي الله عنهما) — via 'Abdullah [ibn Ahmad], from al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-'Azim al-'Anbari, from Abu Salama 'Ubayd ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Hanafi, from al-Junayd ibn Amin ibn Dhirwa ibn Nadla ibn Tarif ibn Buhsul al-Hirmazzi, from his father Amin ibn Dhirwa, from his father Dhirwa ibn Nadla, from his father Nadla ibn Tarif — that a man among them called al-A'sha — whose name was 'Abdullah ibn al-A'war — had a wife called Mu'adha. He left in Rajab to bring provisions for his family from Hajar. His wife ran away after him, rebellious [nashizan] against him, and sought protection with a man called Mutarrif ibn Buhsul, who took her under his protection. When [al-A'sha] returned and did not find her, he was told she had become rebellious and sought protection with Mutarrif ibn Buhsul. He went to him and said: 'O cousin — is my wife Mu'adha with you? Hand her over to me.' He said: 'She is not with me — and even if she were, I would not hand her over.' Mutarrif was more powerful than him. So [al-A'sha] went out and came to the Prophet ﷺ, sought his protection, and recited: 'O master of mankind and judge of the Arabs, / To you I complain of a sharp-tongued woman of the sharp-tongued. / Like a grey she-wolf in the shade of a burrow. / I went out in Rajab seeking food for her, / And she left me in dispute and fled. / She broke the covenant and hid her tail. / And she cast me into a thicket of entangled thorns. / And they are the worst overcome by those who prevail.' the Prophet ﷺ then said: '"And they are the worst overcome by those who prevail."' [Al-A'sha] complained to him about his wife and what she had done, and that she was with a man called Mutarrif ibn Buhsul. the Prophet ﷺ wrote to Mutarrif: 'See to the wife of this man — Mu'adha — and hand her over to him.' When the Prophet ﷺ's letter arrived and was read to him, he said to her: 'O Mu'adha — this is a letter from the Prophet ﷺ concerning you — I am handing you over to him.' She said: 'Take for me his covenant, pledge, and the guarantee of his prophet that he will not punish me for what I have done.' He obtained that from him on her behalf, and Mutarrif handed her over. Then [al-A'sha] said: 'By your life, my love for Mu'adha is not / something altered by a slanderer, nor by the passage of time. / Nor by the wrong she did when depraved men drove her away, / whispering to her after I was gone.'