A man said, "Messenger of Allah, I slaughter the sheep, yet I feel pity for it," or he said, "I feel pity for the sheep when I slaughter it."He replied, "If you show mercy to the sheep, Allah will show mercy to you. If you show mercy to the sheep, Allah will show mercy to you."
أن رجلا قال: يا رسول الله إني لأذبح الشاة، وأنا أرحمها، أو قال: إني لأرحم الشاة أن أذبحها، فقال: والشاة إن رحمتها رحمك الله، والشاة إن رحمتها رحمك الله.
Ahmad (15592), Bazzar (Kashf Astar 1221), Bukhari in Adab al-Mufrad (373), Tabarani in Al-Kabir (19/23), and Hakim (4/231) all narrated it, all of them through Ismail bin Ibrahim, that is, Ibn Ulaya, who said, Ziyad bin Mikhraq narrated to us from Muawiya bin Qurra, and he mentioned it. Its chain is sahih.Hakim said, "Its chain is sahih."Haythami said in Majma (4/33), "Ahmad, Bazzar, and Tabarani narrated it in Al-Kabir and Al-Saghir, and it has many wordings, and its narrators are trustworthy."