I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with people following him, so I followed him along with them. Suddenly the crowd surged forward, and I lagged behind. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came up to me and struck me a blow, either with a palm-stalk, a stick, a tooth-stick, or something else he had with him.By Allah, it did not hurt me, but I spent the night restless, saying to myself, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would not have struck me except for something Allah had made known to him about me." I resolved to go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the morning.Then Jibreel descended upon the Prophet ﷺ and said, "You are a shepherd, so do not break the horns of your flock."When we had prayed the morning prayer, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "O Allah, there are people who follow me, and I do not like that they follow me. O Allah, whomever I have struck or insulted, make it for him an expiation and a reward," or he said, "forgiveness and mercy," or as he said.
رأيت رسول الله ﷺ وأناس يتبعونه فاتبعته معهم، قال: ففجئني القوم يسعون، قال: وأبقى القوم، فأتى علي رسول الله ﷺ، فضربني ضربة، إما بعسيب أو قضيب أو سواك، أو شيء كان معه، قال: فوالله ما أوجعني، قال: فبت بليلة: قال وقلت: ما ضربني رسول الله ﷺ إلا لشيء علمه الله في، قال: وحدثني نفسي أن آتي رسول الله ﷺ إذا أصبحت، قال: فنزل جبريل عليه السلام على النبي ﷺ فقال: إنك راع، فلا تكسر قرون رعيتك. قال: فلما صلينا الغداة- أو قال أصبحنا- قال: قال رسول الله ﷺ: اللهم إن أناسا يتبعوني، وإني لا يعجبني أن يتبعوني، اللهم فمن ضربت أو سبب، فاجعلها له كفارة وأجرا. أو قال: مغفرة ورحمة. أو كما قال.
Ahmad (22510) and Tahawi in Sharh Mushkil (2076) both narrated it through Mutamir bin Sulayman, from his father, who said, "Sumayt narrated to us, from Abu Sawar." Abu Sawar narrated to him, from his uncle, who said, then he mentioned it.Its isnad is hasan because of Sumayt Sadusi Basri, for his hadith is hasan. Haythami said in al-Majma (9/407), "Ahmad narrated it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih."Abu Sawar is al-Adawi al-Basri. It is said his name was Hassan bin Hurayth, and it is said the reverse, and other names have also been given.The uncle of Abu Sawar, the narrator of the hadith, is a companion, and the anonymity of companions does not harm the hadith.His saying, "al-asib," refers to a palm branch.