Abu Musa al-Ash'ari reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
A believer who recites the Qur'an is like an orange whose fragrance is sweet and whose taste is sweet; a believer who does not recite the Qur'an is like a date which has no fragrance but has a sweet taste; and the hypocrite who recites the Qur'an is like a basil whose fragrance is sweet, but whose taste is bitter; and a hypocrite who does not recite the Qur'an is like the colocynth which has no fragrance and has a bitter taste.
حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، وَأَبُو كَامِلٍ الْجَحْدَرِيُّ كِلاَهُمَا عَنْ أَبِي عَوَانَةَ، - قَالَ قُتَيْبَةُ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَوَانَةَ، - عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ أَنَسٍ، عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى الأَشْعَرِيِّ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم
مَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِ الَّذِي يَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ مَثَلُ الأُتْرُجَّةِ رِيحُهَا طَيِّبٌ وَطَعْمُهَا طَيِّبٌ وَمَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِ الَّذِي لاَ يَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ مَثَلُ التَّمْرَةِ لاَ رِيحَ لَهَا وَطَعْمُهَا حُلْوٌ وَمَثَلُ الْمُنَافِقِ الَّذِي يَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ مَثَلُ الرَّيْحَانَةِ رِيحُهَا طَيِّبٌ وَطَعْمُهَا مُرٌّ وَمَثَلُ الْمُنَافِقِ الَّذِي لاَ يَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ كَمَثَلِ الْحَنْظَلَةِ لَيْسَ لَهَا رِيحٌ وَطَعْمُهَا مُرٌّ
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Isnad
8 transmitters- 1Qutayba bin Sa'id bin JamilBulkh,Bakhalan, Baghdad · d. ~240 AH
- 2Fdyl bin Husayn bin Talhad. 237 AH
- 3Wadah bin 'Abdullah al-YashkariBasra,al-Wasit · d. 176 AH
- 4Qutayba bin Sa'id bin JamilBulkh,Bakhalan, Baghdad · d. ~240 AH
- 5Wadah bin 'Abdullah al-YashkariBasra,al-Wasit · d. 176 AH
- 6QatadaBasra/Medina · d. ~117 AH
- 7Anas bin MalikMedinah,Damascus, Basrah · d. 93 AH/712 CE
- 8Abu Musa al-Asha'ariYemen/Makkah/Medina/Basra/Kufa · d. ~43 or 52 AH /662 or 672 CE
References2 variants
- In-Book Reference
- Book 6, Hadith 288
- USC-MSA web (English) reference
- Book 4, Hadith 1743 (deprecated numbering scheme)