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 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»  

[Machine] He has nothing of mine except for my shield and forgiveness, so I will write to you to give it to my family." He said, "He did not agree." He said, "So Adi became angry and swore not to give him anything." He said, "The man was satisfied." He said, "He said, 'Had I not heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying, 'Whoever swears an oath and sees its consequences, let him fulfill it with piety.'"  

لَهُ عَدِيُّ مَا عِنْدِي إِلَّا دِرْعِي وَمِغْفَرِي فَأَنَا أَكْتُبُ لَكَ إِلَى أَهْلِي تُعْطَهَا قَالَ فَلَمْ يَرْضَ قَالَ فَغَضِبَ عَدِيُّ فَحَلَفَ لَا يُعْطِيهِ شَيْئًا قَالَ فَرَضِيَ الرَّجُلُ قَالَ فَقَالَ لَوْلَا أَنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ مَنْ حَلَفَ عَلَى يَمِينٍ فَرَأَى تُقَاءَهَا فَلْيَأْتِ التَّقْوَى مَا حَنَثَتْ