al-Harith ibn Awf (Abu Waqid al-Laythi)

The Hadith of the Three Men

Abu Waqid al-Harith ibn Awf narrated:

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ بَيْنَمَا هُوَ جَالِسٌ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ وَالنَّاسُ مَعَهُ إِذْ أَقْبَلَ ثَلاَثَةُ نَفَرٍ فَأَقْبَلَ اثْنَانِ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَذَهَبَ وَاحِدٌ … قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ أَلاَ أُخْبِرُكُمْ عَنِ النَّفَرِ الثَّلاَثَةِ أَمَّا أَحَدُهُمْ فَأَوَى إِلَى اللَّهِ فَآوَاهُ اللَّهُ وَأَمَّا الآخَرُ فَاسْتَحْيَا فَاسْتَحْيَا اللَّهُ مِنْهُ وَأَمَّا الآخَرُ فَأَعْرَضَ فَأَعْرَضَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ

”Three persons came: two of them came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and one went away. One of them saw a space in the gathering and sat in it. The other sat behind the people. The third turned away and left. When the Prophet ﷺ finished he said: ‘Shall I not tell you about these three? One of them sought refuge with Allah, so Allah gave him refuge. The second was shy, so Allah was shy of him. As for the third, he turned away, so Allah turned away from him.’”

Sahih al-Bukhari 66 · Book 3 (Knowledge), Hadith 9 · USC-MSA: Vol. 1, Book 3, Hadith 66 · also Sahih Muslim 2176 · narrated by Abu Waqid al-Laythi