The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed through the marketplace, entering from one of the upper districts of Madinah, with people on either side of him. He came across a dead lamb with stunted ears. He picked it up by its ear and said, "Which of you would like to have this for a dirham?"They replied, "We would not want it for anything. What would we do with it?"He asked, "Would you like to have it for free?"They said, "By Allah, even if it were alive it would be defective because of its stunted ears, so what about now that it is dead?"He said, "By Allah, this world is more insignificant to Allah than this carcass is to you."
أن رسول الله ﷺ مر بالسوق داخلا من بعض العالية، والناس كنفتيه، فمر بجدي أسك ميت، فتناوله، فأخذ بأذنه، ثم قال: أيكم يحب أن هذا له بدرهم؟ فقالوا: ما نحب أنه لنا بشيء وما نصنع به؟ قال: أتحبون أنه لكم؟ قالوا: والله لو كان حيا كان عيبا فيه؛ لأنه أسك، فكيف وهو ميت؟ فقال: فوالله للدنيا أهون على الله من هذا عليكم.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of Zuhd (2957), from Abdullah bin Maslama bin Qanab, who said, "Sulayman, meaning Ibn Bilal, narrated to us, from Jafar, from his father, from Jabir bin Abdullah," and he mentioned it.His saying, "asakk" means small-eared.