English Translation

Abd al-Razzaq told us: Muhammad ibn Rashid told us, from Makhul, from a man, from Abu Dharr, who said: A man called Akkaf ibn Bishr al-Tamimi came in to see the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to him: "O Akkaf, do you have a wife?" He said: No. He said: "Nor a slave-girl?" He said: Nor a slave-girl. He said: "And you are financially able and in good health?" He said: And I am financially able and in good health. He said: "Then you are among the brothers of devils. If you were among the Christians, you would be among their monks. Indeed our way is marriage. The worst of you are your unmarried men, and the most contemptible of your dead are your unmarried men. Do you seek to test yourselves against Satan? Satan has no weapon more effective against the righteous than women, except the married - those are the purified ones, cleared of indecency. Woe to you, O Akkaf! They are the companions of Ayyub, Dawud, Yusuf, and Kursuf." Bishr ibn Atiyyah said to him: And who is Kursuf, O Messenger of Allah? He said: "A man who worshipped Allah on a shore among the shores of the sea for three hundred years, fasting by day and praying by night; then he disbelieved in Allah, the Almighty, because of a woman he fell in love with, and abandoned what he had been engaged in of worship of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; then Allah brought him back on account of some of what remained in him, and accepted his repentance. Woe to you, O Akkaf, marry, or else you are among the wavering ones." He said: Marry me, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "I have married you to Karimah bint Kulthum al-Himyari."