Arabic (Original)
حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ قَالَ حَفِظْتُهُ مِنْ أَبِي فَرْوَةَ أَوَّلًا ثُمَّ مِنْ مُجَالِدٍ سَمِعَهُ مِنَ الشَّعْبِيِّ يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ النُّعْمَانَ بْنَ بَشِيرٍ يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَكُنْتُ إِذَا سَمِعْتُهُ يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَصْغَيْتُ وَتَقَرَّبْتُ وَخَشِيتُ أَنْ لَا أَسْمَعَ أَحَدًا يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ حَلَالٌ بَيِّنٌ وَحَرَامٌ بَيِّنٌ وَشُبُهَاتٌ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ مَنْ تَرَكَ مَا اشْتَبَهَ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ الْإِثْمِ كَانَ لِمَا اسْتَبَانَ لَهُ أَتْرَكَ وَمَنْ اجْتَرَأَ عَلَى مَا شَكَّ فِيهِ أَوْشَكَ أَنْ يُوَاقِعَ الْحَرَامَ وَإِنَّ لِكُلِّ مَلِكٍ حِمًى وَإِنَّ حِمَى اللَّهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَعَاصِيهِ أَوْ قَالَ مَحَارِمُهُ.
English Translation
Sufyan told us, he said: I memorized it from Abu Farwa first, then from Mujalid, who heard it from al-Sha'bi, saying: I heard al-Nu'man b. Bashir say: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him - and whenever I heard him say "I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him," I would listen closely and draw near, fearing that I would not hear anyone else say "I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him" say: "Lawful is clear and unlawful is clear, and doubtful matters lie between the two. Whoever leaves what is doubtful to him of sin will be more likely to leave what is clear to him of sin, and whoever is bold regarding what he doubts is liable to fall into what is clearly forbidden. Every king has a private pasture, and Allah's private pasture on earth is His acts of disobedience" - or he said, "His prohibitions."