Two men came from the East as orators during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They stood and spoke, then sat down. Then Thabit bin Qays, the orator of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, stood and spoke, then sat down. The people marveled at their speech.The Prophet ﷺ then stood and said, "People, speak in your ordinary manner, for elaborate embellishment of speech comes from Shaytan."The Prophet ﷺ said, "Indeed, some eloquence is sorcery."
حدثنا أبو عامر عبد الملك بن عمرو حدثنا زهير عن زيد بن أسلم سمعت
قدم رجلان من المشرق خطيبان على عهد رسول الله ﷺ فقاما فتكلما ثم قعدا وقام ثابت بن قيس خطيب رسول الله ﷺ فتكلم ثم قعد فعجب الناس من كلامهم فقام النبي ﷺ فقال يا أيها الناس قولوا بقولكم فإنما تشقيق الكلام من الشيطان قال النبي ﷺ إن من البيان سحرا
Its chain of transmission is sahih, and it is a longer version of 5291. Zuhayr, he is Zuhayr bin Muhammad Tamimi Anbari, Abu Mundhir, and he is trustworthy. Ahmad, Ibn Main, and others affirmed his trustworthiness, though some criticized him because of certain unusual hadiths that the people of Syria transmitted from him, but the defect lies with them, not with him. Bukhari said in al-Kabir 2/1/2:391, "The people of Syria transmitted from him unusual hadiths." Ahmad, meaning Ibn Hanbal, said, "The one from whom the people of Syria transmitted was a different Zuhayr, and his name got confused with this one." He said something similar in al-Saghir 186. In al-Tahdheeb 3:249 it states that Athram reported from Ahmad regarding the transmission of the Syrians from Zuhayr, "They transmit unusual hadiths from him." Then he said, "As for the transmission of our companions from him, it is sound, namely Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi and Abu Amir." This hadith is transmitted by Abu Amir Aqadi, that is, Abdul-Malik bin Amr, from Zuhayr, so it is a sahih hadith.Thabit bin Qays bin Shammas, with a fatha on the shin, a doubled meem, and ending with an unmarked sin, the Khazraji Ansari, is a well known companion. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave him the glad tidings of Paradise, and he was killed as a martyr on the day of Yamamah. Ibn Abdul-Barr gave his biography in al-Istiab number 250, and Ibn Athir in Usd al-Ghabah 1:229, and both described him as the orator of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and as the orator of the Ansar. Bukhari gave his biography in al-Kabir 1/2/166-167 but mentioned nothing about his oratory. Ibn Hajar gave his biography in al-Isabah 1:203 and confined himself to describing him as the orator of the Ansar.Tashqiq al-kalam means striving over speech in order to bring it out in its best form. His saying, "Speak according to your own manner," means speak according to your natural disposition, without artificial effort or contrivance aimed at eloquence and rhetorical skill.