I asked him, "How do you act upon this verse?"He said, "Which verse?"I said, "The words of Allah Most High, 'You who believe, take care of your own souls. The misguidance of others cannot harm you if you are rightly guided' [Maidah 5:105]."He said, "By Allah, you have asked someone well-informed about it. I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it, and he said, 'Rather, command what is right and forbid what is wrong, until you see stinginess obeyed, desires followed, worldly life preferred, and every person of opinion impressed with his own opinion. Then concern yourself with your own self and leave the common people alone, for ahead of you lie days in which patience will be like grasping a hot coal. The one who acts rightly during them will have the reward of fifty men who do as you do.'"Abdullah bin Mubarak said, "Someone other than Utbah added to me, 'It was said, Messenger of Allah, the reward of fifty of us or of them?'He replied, 'Rather, the reward of fifty of you.'"
حدثنا سعيد بن يعقوب الطالقاني حدثنا عبد الله بن المبارك أخبرنا عتبة بن أبي حكيم حدثنا عمرو بن جارية اللخمي عن أبي أمية الشعباني قال أتيت
له كيف تصنع بهذه الآية قال أية آية قلت قوله تعالى {يا أيها الذين آمنوا عليكم أنفسكم لا يضركم من ضل إذا اهتديتم} قال أما والله لقد سألت عنها خبيرا سألت عنها رسول الله ﷺ فقال بل ائتمروا بالمعروف وتناهوا عن المنكر حتى إذا رأيت شحا مطاعا وهوى متبعا ودنيا مؤثرة وإعجاب كل ذي رأي برأيه فعليك بخاصة نفسك ودع العوام فإن من ورائكم أياما الصبر فيهن مثل القبض على الجمر للعامل فيهن مثل أجر خمسين رجلا يعملون مثل عملكم قال عبد الله بن المبارك وزادني غير عتبة قيل يا رسول الله أجر خمسين منا أو منهم قال بل أجر خمسين منكم
[Its chain of transmission is hasan]Abu Dawud reported it, no. 4341, from the hadith of Ibn Mubarak, and Ibn Majah, no. 4014, from the hadith of Utba bin Abu Hakeem, and he is hasan al-hadith, being deemed reliable by the majority. Amr bin Jariya was deemed reliable by Tirmidhi, Ibn Hibban, and others, and Abu Umaya was deemed reliable by Dhahabi in al-Kashif, and by Ibn Hibban and others. Ibn Hibban graded the hadith sahih, no. 1850, as did Hakim, 4/322, and Dhahabi agreed with him.