Three men came to the houses of the wives of the Prophet ﷺ asking about the Prophet's ﷺ worship. When they were informed of it, they seemed to consider it little, and said, "Where do we stand in comparison to the Prophet ﷺ, whose past and future sins Allah has forgiven?"One of them said, "As for me, I will pray throughout the night forever."Another said, "I will fast every day and never break my fast."The third said, "I will keep away from women and never marry."Then the Prophet ﷺ came and said, "Are you the ones who said such and such? By Allah, I am the most fearful of Allah among you and the most mindful of Him, yet I fast and I break my fast, I pray and I sleep, and I marry women. So whoever turns away from my way is not from me."
جاء ثلاثة رهط إلى بيوت أزواج النبي ﷺ يسألون عن عبادة النبي ﷺ، فلما أخبروا كأنهم تقالوها، فقالوا: وأين نحن من النبي ﷺ قد غفر الله له ما تقدم من ذنبه و ما تأخر؟ فقال أحدهم: أما أنا فأصلي الليل أبدا، وقال آخر: أنا أصوم الدهر ولا أفطر، وقال آخر: أنا أعتزل النساء، فلا أتزوج أبدا، فجاء النبي ﷺ فقال: أنتم الذين قلتم كذا وكذا؟ أما- والله- إني لأخشاكم الله، وأتقاكم له لكني أصوم وأفطر، وأصلي وأرقد، وأتزوج النساء، فمن رغب عن سنتي فليس مني.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Marriage (5063) from Saeed bin Abu Maryam, who said, Muhammad bin Jafar informed us, Humayd bin Abu Humayd Tawil informed us, that he heard Anas bin Malik say, and then he mentioned it. Muslim also narrated it in the Book of Marriage (1401) from Abu Bakr bin Nafi Abdi, who said, Bahz narrated to us, Hammad bin Salama narrated to us, from Thabit, from Anas, and he mentioned something similar.