English Translation

Khalaf ibn al-Walid told us, Abbad ibn Abbad — meaning al-Muhallabi — told us, al-Mujalid ibn Sa'id told us, from Qays ibn Abi Hazim, from al-Mustawrid ibn Shaddad, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say, "By Allah, this world compared to the Hereafter is only like a man who put his finger into the sea, then it came back to him — so what did it take from it?" He said: And al-Mustawrid said: I bear witness that I was with the company of riders who were with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, when he passed by the dwelling of a people who had moved away from it, and there was a discarded lamb. He said, "Do you see this — how worthless it was to its owners, since they threw it away?" They said, "It is because of its worthlessness to them that they threw it away." He said, "By Allah, this world is more worthless before Allah, Mighty and Sublime, than this is to its owners."