Arabic (Original)
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْمَلِكِ بْنُ عَمْرٍو حَدَّثَنَا مَالِكٌ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ دِينَارٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ مَا شَجَرَةٌ لَا يَسْقُطُ وَرَقُهَا وَهِيَ مِثْلُ الْمُؤْمِنِ أَوْ قَالَ الْمُسْلِمِ قَالَ فَوَقَعَ النَّاسُ فِي شَجَرِ الْبَوَادِي قَالَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ وَوَقَعَ فِي نَفْسِي أَنَّهَا النَّخْلَةُ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ هِيَ النَّخْلَةُ قَالَ فَذَكَرْتُ ذَلِكَ لِعُمَرَ فَقَالَ لَأَنْ تَكُونَ قُلْتَهَا كَانَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيَّ مِنْ كَذَا وَكَذَا.
English Translation
'Abd al-Malik ibn 'Amr narrated to us: Malik narrated to us, from 'Abd Allah ibn Dinar, from Ibn 'Umar, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: 'There is a tree whose leaves do not fall, and it is like the believer,' or he said, 'like the Muslim.' He said: So the people started thinking of desert trees. Ibn 'Umar said: And it occurred to me that it was the palm tree, but I kept silent. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: 'It is the palm tree.' He said: So I mentioned that to 'Umar, and he said: 'If you had said it, it would have been dearer to me than such and such.'