A beggar came to ʿAdī b. Hatim and he begged him to give him the price of a servant, or the approximate price of the slave. He said: I have nothing to give you except my coat of mail and my helmet. I will, however, write to my family to give that to you, but he did not agree to that. Thereupon ʿAdī became upset and said: By Allah, I will not give you anything. The person ˹then˺ agreed.

Whereupon he said: By Allah, had I not heard Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying:" He who took an oath, but then found something more pious in the sight of Allah, he should ˹break the oath˺ and do that which is more pious," I would not have broken the oath.  

جَاءَ سَائِلٌ إِلَى عَدِيِّ بْنِ حَاتِمٍ فَسَأَلَهُ نَفَقَةً فِي ثَمَنِ خَادِمٍ أَوْ فِي بَعْضِ ثَمَنِ خَادِمٍ۔ فَقَالَ: لَيْسَ عِنْدِي مَا أُعْطِيكَ إِلاَّ دِرْعِي وَمِغْفَرِي فَأَكْتُبُ إِلَى أَهْلِي أَنْ يُعْطُوكَهَا۔ قَالَ فَلَمْ يَرْضَ۔ فَغَضِبَ عَدِيٌّ فَقَالَ: أَمَا وَاللَّهِ لاَ أُعْطِيكَ شَيْئًا ثُمَّ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ رَضِيَ۔

فَقَالَ: أَمَا وَاللَّهِ لَوْلاَ أَنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ: «مَنْ حَلَفَ عَلَى يَمِينٍ ثُمَّ رَأَى أَتْقَى لِلَّهِ مِنْهَا فَلْيَأْتِ التَّقْوَى۔» مَا حَنَّثْتُ يَمِينِي۔  

[Machine] I have nothing to give you except my shield and my forgiveness, so write to my family to give it to you. But they were not satisfied, so they swore not to give you anything. Then the man agreed and said: "If it weren't for me hearing the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying, 'Whoever takes an oath and then sees that there is something more righteous to do for the sake of Allah, then let him do what is more righteous,'" I would not have broken my promise.  

مَا عِنْدِي شَيْءٌ أُعْطِيكَهُ إِلَّا دِرْعِي وَمِغْفَرِي فَأَكْتُبُ إِلَى أَهْلِي أَنْ تَعْطِيكَهَا فَلَمْ يَرْضَ فَحَلَفَ أَنْ لَا يُعْطِيَهُ شَيْئًا ثُمَّ رَضِيَ الرَّجُلُ فَقَالَ عَدِيٌّ لَوْلَا أَنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ « مَنْ حَلَفَ عَلَى يَمِينٍ ثُمَّ رَأَى مَا هُوَ أَتْقَى لِلَّهِ مِنْهَا فَلْيَأْتِ التَّقْوَى» مَا حَنَثْتُ  

[Machine] I do not have anything to give you except my shield and forgiveness. So, I wrote to my family asking them to give it to you, but they refused. Then, my enemy became angry and said, "By Allah, I will not give you anything." Then, the man was pleased and said, "By Allah, if I had not heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, 'Whoever swears an oath to do something and sees that it is more righteous to do something else, then he should do what is more righteous, but he should not break his oath.'"  

لَيْسَ عِنْدِي مَا أُعْطِيكَ إلَّا دِرْعِي وَمِغْفَرِي فَأَكْتُبُ إِلَى أَهْلِي أَنْ يُعْطُوكَهُمَا فَلَمْ يَرْضَ فَغَضِبَ عَدِيٌّ فَقَالَ وَاللهِ لَا أُعْطِيكَ شَيْئًا ثُمَّ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ رَضِيَ فَقَالَ وَاللهِ لَوْلَا أَنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ «مَنْ حَلَفَ عَلَى يَمِينٍ رَأَى مَا هُوَ أَتْقَى لِلَّهِ فَلْيَأْتِهِ وَلَكِنْ مَا حَنِثَ فِي يَمِينٍ»