The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Horses are of three kinds. For one man they are a source of reward, for another they are a means of covering his needs, and for a third they are a burden of sin.As for the man for whom they are a source of reward, he is one who tethers his horse for the sake of Allah, leaving it on a long rope to graze in a meadow or pasture. Whatever the horse consumes from that meadow or pasture while on its long rope is recorded as good deeds for him. If it breaks its rope and gallops up one or two heights, even its hoofprints and droppings are recorded as good deeds for him. If it passes by a river and drinks from it, though he had not intended to give it water, that too is recorded as good deeds for him. So such horses are a source of reward for him.As for the man for whom they are a covering, he is one who tethers them seeking independence and self-restraint from begging, while not forgetting the right of Allah concerning their necks and their backs. For him they are a means of covering his needs.As for the man for whom they are a burden, he is one who tethers them out of pride, showing off, and hostility toward the people of Islam. For him they are a burden of sin."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was then asked about donkeys, and he replied, "Nothing has been revealed to me concerning them except this comprehensive and decisive verse, 'So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.'" [Zalzalah 99:7–8].
أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: الخيل لرجل أجر، ولرجل ستر، وعلى رجل وزر، فأما الذي هي له أجر فرجل ربطها في سبيل الله فأطال لها في مرج أو روضة فما أصابت في طيلها ذلك من المرج أو الروضة كان له حسنات ولو أنها قطعت طبلها ذلك فاستنت شرفا أو شرفين كانت آثارها وأروانها حسنات له ولو أنها مرت بنهر فشربت منه ولم يرد أن يسقي به كان ذلك له حسنات فهي له أجر، ورجل ربطها تغنيا وتعففا ولم ينس حق الله في رقابها ولا في ظهورها فهي لذلك ستر، ورجل ربطها فخرا ورياء ونواء لأهل الإسلام فهي على ذلك وزر. وسئل رسول الله ﷺ عن الحمر؟ فقال: لم ينزل علي فيها شيء إلا هذه الآية الجامعة المانعة {فمن يعمل مثقال ذرة خيرا يره ومن يعمل مثقال ذرة شرا يره} [سورة الزلزلة].
Malik narrated it in Jihad (3) from Zayd bin Aslam, from Abu Salih Samman, from Abu Hurairah, as mentioned. Bukhari narrated it in Musaqat (2371) through the route of Malik with the same chain. Muslim narrated it in Zakat (987) through another route from Hafs bin Maysara Sanani, from Zayd bin Aslam, with his chain, and its wording is,"There is no owner of gold or silver who fails to pay what is due on it, except that on the Day of Resurrection sheets of fire will be beaten out for him, heated in the fire of Hell, and his side, his forehead, and his back will be branded with them. Every time they cool, they will be brought back to him, on a day whose length is fifty thousand years, until judgment is passed among the servants, and he sees his path, whether to Paradise or to the Fire."It was said, "Messenger of Allah, what about camels?"He said, "Nor is there any owner of camels who fails to pay what is due on them, and part of what is due on them is milking them on the day they come to water, except that on the Day of Resurrection he will be laid out for them on a flat open plain, as numerous as they ever were, not one young camel missing from them, and they will trample him with their hooves and bite him with their mouths. Every time the first of them passes over him, the last of them will be brought back to him, on a day whose length is fifty thousand years, until judgment is passed among the servants, and he sees his path, whether to Paradise or to the Fire."It was said, "Messenger of Allah, what about cattle and sheep?"He said, "Nor is there any owner of cattle or sheep who fails to pay what is due on them, except that on the Day of Resurrection he will be laid out for them on a flat open plain, none of them missing, none with twisted horns, none hornless, none with broken horns, and they will gore him with their horns and trample him with their hooves. Every time the first of them passes over him, the last of them will be brought back to him, on a day whose length is fifty thousand years, until judgment is passed among the servants, and he sees his path, whether to Paradise or to the Fire."It was said, "Messenger of Allah, what about horses?"He said, "Horses are of three kinds. For one man they are a burden, for another they are a covering, and for another they are a reward. As for the one for whom they are a burden, that is a man who ties them up out of show, pride, and defiance against the people of Islam, so they are a burden for him. As for the one for whom they are a covering, that is a man who ties them up in the path of Allah, and then does not forget the right of Allah regarding their backs and their necks, so they are a covering for him. As for the one for whom they are a reward, that is a man who ties them up in the path of Allah for the people of Islam, in a meadow or a garden, and whatever they eat from that meadow or garden, good deeds are recorded for him equal in number to what they ate, and good deeds are recorded for him equal in number to their droppings and their urine. And if they break loose and run a stretch or two stretches, good deeds are recorded for him by Allah equal in number to their tracks and their droppings. And if their owner passes them by a river and they drink from it, without his intending to water them, good deeds are recorded for him by Allah equal in number to what they drank."It was said, "Messenger of Allah, what about donkeys?"He said, "Nothing was revealed to me concerning donkeys except this single all-encompassing verse, "Whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it" [Zalzalah 99:7–8]."Regarding his statement, "Every time the first of them passes over him, the last of them will be brought back to him," Nawawi said, "This is how it appears in all the manuscripts at this point." Qadi Iyad said, "They have said this is an alteration and a corruption, and the correct version is what comes afterward in the other hadith, in the narration of Suhayl from his father, and what comes in the hadith of Marur bin Suwayd from Abu Dharr, 'Every time the last of them passes over him, the first of them will be brought back to him,' and with this the wording is properly ordered." End of quote.As for his statement "aqsa", it means having twisted horns. As for "jalha", it means one that has no horn. As for "adba", it means one whose inner horn is broken. As for his statement "fastannat sharafan aw sharafayn", the meaning of istannat is that they ran, and "sharaf", with the shin and ra pronounced with fatha, refers to elevated ground, though it has also been said that what is meant here is one stretch or two stretches.