Among our dwellings there was a frail, sickly man. The people of the household were caught off guard when they discovered him on top of one of the household's slave girls, having illicit relations with her. He was a Muslim, so Saad brought his case to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.The Prophet ﷺ said, "Strike him with the prescribed punishment."They said, "Messenger of Allah, he is too weak for that. If we strike him a hundred lashes, we will kill him."He said, "Then take a date-palm cluster with a hundred stalks on it and strike him with it once, and let him go."
حدثنا يعلى بن عبيد حدثنا محمد يعني ابن إسحاق عن يعقوب بن عبد الله بن الأشج عن أبي أمامة بن سهل
كان بين أبياتنا إنسان مخدج ضعيف لم يرع أهل الدار إلا وهو على أمة من إماء الدار يخبث بها وكان مسلما فرفع شأنه سعد إلى رسول الله ﷺ فقال اضربوه حده قالوا يا رسول الله إنه أضعف من ذلك إن ضربناه مائة قتلناه قال فخذوا له عثكالا فيه مائة شمراخ فاضربوه به ضربة واحدة وخلوا سبيله
Its isnad is sahih, its narrators are trustworthy and well-known, having been mentioned previously. Abu Dawud related the hadith, 4/159, no. 4472, as did Ibn Majah, 2/859, no. 2574, and Bayhaqi, 8/230, all in the Book of Legal Punishments, chapter on the punishment of the sick, and Tabarani in Al-Kabir, 6/77, no. 5568, and Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunnah, 10/303, no. 2591.