Arabic (Original)
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْمُغِيرَةِ حَدَّثَنَا مُعَانُ بْنُ رِفَاعَةَ حَدَّثَنِي عَلِيُّ بْنُ يَزِيدَ عَنْ الْقَاسِمِ عَنْ أَبِي أُمَامَةَ قَالَ خَرَجْنَا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي سَرِيَّةٍ مِنْ سَرَايَاهُ قَالَ فَمَرَّ رَجُلٌ بِغَارٍ فِيهِ شَيْءٌ مِنْ مَاءٍ قَالَ فَحَدَّثَ نَفْسَهُ بِأَنْ يُقِيمَ فِي ذَلِكَ الْغَارِ فَيَقُوتُهُ مَا كَانَ فِيهِ مِنْ مَاءٍ وَيُصِيبُ مَا حَوْلَهُ مِنْ الْبَقْلِ وَيَتَخَلَّى مِنْ الدُّنْيَا ثُمَّ قَالَ لَوْ أَنِّي أَتَيْتُ نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَذَكَرْتُ ذَلِكَ لَهُ فَإِنْ أَذِنَ لِي فَعَلْتُ وَإِلَّا لَمْ أَفْعَلْ فَأَتَاهُ فَقَالَ يَا نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ إِنِّي مَرَرْتُ بِغَارٍ فِيهِ مَا يَقُوتُنِي مِنْ الْمَاءِ وَالْبَقْلِ فَحَدَّثَتْنِي نَفْسِي بِأَنْ أُقِيمَ فِيهِ وَأَتَخَلَّى مِنْ الدُّنْيَا قَالَ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنِّي لَمْ أُبْعَثْ بِالْيَهُودِيَّةِ وَلَا بِالنَّصْرَانِيَّةِ وَلَكِنِّي بُعِثْتُ بِالْحَنِيفِيَّةِ السَّمْحَةِ وَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ لَغَدْوَةٌ أَوْ رَوْحَةٌ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ الدُّنْيَا وَمَا فِيهَا وَلَمُقَامُ أَحَدِكُمْ فِي الصَّفِّ خَيْرٌ مِنْ صَلَاتِهِ سِتِّينَ سَنَةً.
English Translation
Abu al-Mughira narrated to us: Mu'an ibn Rifa'a narrated to us: Ali ibn Yazid narrated to me, from al-Qasim, from Abu Umama, who said: We went out with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on one of his military expeditions. He said: A man passed by a cave that held a little water. He said: He thought to himself of staying in that cave, sustaining himself with the water in it and the herbs around it, withdrawing from the world. Then he said, "If I go to the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and mention this to him — if he permits me, I will do it; otherwise I will not." So he came to him and said, "O Prophet of Allah, I passed by a cave that has enough water and herbs to sustain me, and I have been thinking of staying in it and withdrawing from the world." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "I was not sent with Judaism nor with Christianity, but I was sent with the tolerant, upright faith. By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, a morning or an evening expedition in the way of Allah is better than the world and everything in it, and the standing of one of you in the battle-line is better than sixty years of his prayer."