Arabic (Original)
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْيَمَانِ حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ عَيَّاشٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ بْنِ جَابِرٍ عَنْ أَبِي سَلَّامٍ عَنْ خَالِدِ بْنِ زَيْدٍ الْأَنْصَارِيِّ قَالَ كُنْتُ مَعَ عُقْبَةَ بْنِ عَامِرٍ الْجُهَنِيِّ وَكَانَ رَجُلًا يُحِبُّ الرَّمْيَ إِذَا خَرَجَ خَرَجَ بِي مَعَهُ فَدَعَانِي يَوْمًا فَأَبْطَأْتُ عَلَيْهِ فَقَالَ تَعَالَ أَقُولُ لَكَ مَا قَالَ لِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَمَا حَدَّثَنِي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يُدْخِلُ بِالسَّهْمِ الْوَاحِدِ ثَلَاثَةَ نَفَرٍ الْجَنَّةَ صَانِعَهُ الْمُحْتَسِبَ فِي صَنَعْتِهِ الْخَيْرَ وَالرَّامِيَ بِهِ وَمُنْبِلَهُ وَقَالَ ارْمُوا وَارْكَبُوا وَلَأَنْ تَرْمُوا أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِنْ أَنْ تَرْكَبُوا وَلَيْسَ مِنْ اللَّهْوِ إِلَّا ثَلَاثٌ تَأْدِيبُ الرَّجُلِ فَرَسَهُ وَمُلَاعَبَتُهُ امْرَأَتَهُ وَرَمْيُهُ بِقَوْسِهِ وَمَنْ تَرَكَ الرَّمْيَ بَعْدَمَا عُلِّمَهُ رَغْبَةً عَنْهُ فَإِنَّهَا نِعْمَةٌ تَرَكَهَا.
English Translation
Abu al-Yaman narrated to us, Isma'il ibn 'Ayyash narrated to us, from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid ibn Jabir, from Abu Sallam, from Khalid ibn Zayd al-Ansari, who said: I was with 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani, and he was a man who loved archery; whenever he went out, he took me with him. One day he called me and I was slow to respond, so he said, "Come, let me tell you what the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to me and what he told me." [He said]: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say, "Allah, Mighty and Sublime, admits three men to Paradise by means of a single arrow: its maker who intends good in his craft, the one who shoots it, and the one who hands the arrows to the archer." And he said, "Shoot and ride, and that you shoot is more beloved to me than that you ride. There is nothing of idle amusement except three things: a man's training of his horse, his playing with his wife, and his shooting with his bow. Whoever abandons archery after having learned it out of aversion to it - it is indeed a favor he has abandoned."