A man said to the Prophet ﷺ, "Tell me of a deed that will admit me to Paradise."The people said, "What is the matter with him? What is the matter with him?"The Prophet ﷺ said, "He has a real need. Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, establish the prayer, pay the zakat, and maintain ties of kinship."
أن رجلا قال للنبي ﷺ: أخبرني بعمل يدخلني الجنة. قال (أي القوم): ما له ما له! وقال النبي ﷺ: أرب ما له، تعبد الله ولا تشرك به شيئا، وتقيم الصلاة، وتؤتي الزكاة، وتصل الرحم.
Bukhari reported it in the Book of Zakat (1396), and Muslim in the Book of Faith (13/13), both from the hadith of Shubah, who said, "Muhammad bin Uthman bin Abdullah bin Mawhab and his father Uthman told us, both of whom heard Musa bin Talha narrating from Abu Ayub," and then he related it. The wording is Bukhari's, except that in one of the two chains he said, "from Ibn Uthman bin Abdullah bin Mawhab, from Musa bin Talha," and he also said, "I fear that Muhammad is not correctly preserved and that it is actually Amr." Muslim, however, did not give the wording of the hadith, but simply referred back to what preceded it, namely what he narrated from Abdullah bin Numayr, from Amr bin Uthman (as Bukhari held to be the more correct view), from Musa bin Talha, who said, "Abu Ayub told me that a Bedouin approached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was on a journey and took hold of the halter of his she-camel, or its rein, then said, 'O Messenger of Allah,' or 'O Muhammad, tell me what brings me close to Paradise and what takes me far from the Fire.'" He said, "The Prophet ﷺ held back, then looked at his companions and said, 'He has indeed been guided,' or 'He has indeed been shown the right way.'" He said, "How did you put it?" He said, "So the man repeated it, and the Prophet ﷺ said, 'Worship Allah, associating no partner with Him, establish prayer, give zakat, and maintain family ties. Let go of the camel.'"In the version of Abu Ishaq, from Musa bin Talha, an addition appears, "If he holds fast to what he has been commanded, he will enter Paradise." Baghawi also reported it in Sharh al-Sunnah (20/1) by way of Abu Naeem, saying "from Amr bin Uthman," though he failed to attribute it to Bukhari. Amr bin Uthman is indeed the correct form. Nawawi said, "They agreed that this was an error on the part of Shubah, and that the correct name is Amr."As for the expression "arab," there are three different readings of it. The first is "arib" following the pattern of alam, meaning a curse invoked upon him, that is, may his limbs be struck and fall away, a phrase not meant to actually call for that outcome but rather uttered as an expression of astonishment. The second is "arab ma lahu," following the pattern of jamal, meaning "he has a need," with "ma" added merely to indicate a small amount, that is, a slight need. The third is "arib," following the pattern of katif, where al-arib means the skillful, accomplished person, meaning "he is skillful," with the subject omitted, followed by the question "ma lahu," meaning "what is the matter with him." See Nihayah (35/1).