A man came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, "Teach me to recite something, Messenger of Allah."The Prophet ﷺ said, "Recite three of the surahs that begin with Alif Lam Ra."The man replied, "I have grown old, my heart has hardened, and my tongue has become heavy."He said, "Then recite from those that begin with Ha Mim."The man said the same as before.He said, "Then recite three of the surahs that begin with glorification."Again the man said the same, and then added, "Teach me instead, Messenger of Allah, a surah that gathers it all together."So he taught him "When the earth is shaken with its quaking" [Zalzalah 99:1]. When he had finished it, the man said, "By the One who sent you with the truth, I will never add anything to this."Then the man turned to leave, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The little man has succeeded, the little man has succeeded."Then he said, "Bring him back to me."The man came, and the Prophet ﷺ said to him, "I have been commanded concerning the Day of Sacrifice, which Allah has made a festival for this community."The man said, "Tell me, what if I have nothing but the ewe my son lent me for its milk? Shall I sacrifice that?"He answered, "No. Instead, take some of your hair, trim your nails, clip your moustache, and shave your pubic hair. That will be your complete sacrifice in the sight of Allah."
أتى رجل رسول الله ﷺ فقال: أقرئني يا رسول الله، قال له: اقرأ ثلاثا من ذات الر فقال الرجل: كبرت سني، واشتد قلبي، وغلظ لساني، قال: فاقرأ من ذات حم فقال مثل مقالته الأولى، فقال: اقرأ ثلاثا من المسبحات فقال مثل مقالته، فقال الرجل: ولكن أقرئني يا رسول الله سورة جامعة، فأقرأه: {إذا زلزلت الأرض} حتى إذا فرغ منها قال الرجل: والذي بعثك بالحق، لا أزيد عليها أبدا، ثم أدبر الرجل، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: أفلح الرويجل، أفلح الرويجل ثم قال: علي به فجاءه، فقال له: أمرت بيوم الأضحى، جعله الله عيدا لهذه الأمة فقال الرجل: أرأيت إن لم أجد إلا منيحة ابني، أفأضحي بها؟ قال: لا ولكن تأخذ من شعرك، وتقلم أظفارك، وتقص شاربك، وتحلق عانتك، فذلك تمام أضحيتك عند الله.
Ahmad (6575) narrated it, and the wording above is his, as did Abu Dawud (1399, 2789) and Nasai (4365), and Ibn Hibban (5914) and Hakim (2/532) graded it sahih. All of them narrated it through Ayyash bin Abbas Qutbani, from Isa bin Hilal Sadafi, from Abdullah bin Amr bin As, and he related it.Its chain of transmission is hasan because of Isa bin Hilal, for a group of narrators reported from him, and Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy narrators, and Fasawi mentioned him among the trustworthy successors from the people of Egypt.His statement, "from the Dhat ar-Ra surahs," means from the surahs that begin with these three letters read separately, alif, lam, ra. There are five such surahs in the Quran, Yunus, Hud, Yusuf, Ibrahim, and Hijr.His statement, "from the Dhat Ha-Mim surahs," means from the surahs that begin with these two letters, ha, mim. There are seven such surahs in the Quran, Ghafir, Fussilat, Shura, Zukhruf, Dukhan, Jathiyah, and Ahqaf.His statement, "from the Musabbihat," means the surahs that begin with sabbaha, yusabbihu, or sabbih, and they are, Hadid, Hashr, Saff, Jumuah, Taghabun, and Ala.