Caution: Translations of Quran and Ḥadīth may lead to possible misapplications and misinterpretations. This site is intended for students of sacred knowledge that are proficient in comprehending classical Arabic and have a strong foundation in Islamic sciences. Also note that religious injunctions rely on several aspects beyond what one may glean through reading individual aḥādīth.
Qurʾān Bukhārī Muslim Nasāʾī Abū Dāwūd Tirmidhī Ibn Mājah Mālik Aḥmad Dārimī Ḥākim Ibn Ḥibbān Ṭabarānī Nasāʾī's Kubrá Bayhaqī al-Luʾluʾ wa-al-Marjān Ibn Rajab's Fifty Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn Aḥmad's Zuhd Suyūṭī

ذِكْرُ الْبَيَانِ بِأَنَّ يَوْمًا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ يَوْمٍ فِي غَيْرِهِ مِنَ الطَّاعَاتِ

ibnhibban:4609 – al-Ḥasan b. Sufyān > Ḥabbān b. Mūsá > ʿAbdullāh > Abū Miʿan > Abū ʿAqīl > Abū Ṣāliḥ a freed slave of ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān

[Machine] "O people, I have heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ a hadith that I used to hide from you, thinking that you may not be ready for it. But now, I feel it is my duty to share it as a piece of advice for the sake of Allah and for your benefit. I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying, 'A day spent in the path of Allah is better than a thousand days spent elsewhere. Therefore, let each one of you look after their own self.'"  

ابن حبّان:٤٦٠٩ – أَخْبَرَنَا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ سُفْيَانَ حَدَّثَنَا حَبَّانُ بْنُ مُوسَى أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو مِعَنٍ حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو عَقِيلٍ عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ مَوْلَى عُثْمَانَ بْنِ عَفَّانَ قَالَ قَالَ

عُثْمَانُ فِي مَسْجِدِ الْخَيْفِ بِمِنًى أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ حَدِيثًا كُنْتُ كَتَمْتُكُمُوهُ ضَنًّا بِكُمْ وَقَدْ بَدَا لِي أَنْ أُبْدِيَهُ نَصِيحَةً لِلَّهِ وَلَكُمْ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ «يَوْمٌ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ يَوْمٍ فِيمَا سِوَاهُ فَلْيَنْظُرْ كُلُّ امْرِئٍ مِنْكُمْ لِنَفْسِهِ»  

See similar narrations below:

Collected by Aḥmad, Dārimī, Bayhaqī
ahmad:558 – Hāshim b. al-Qāsim > Layth > Zuhrah b. Maʿbad al-Qurashī > Abū Ṣāliḥ a freed slave of ʿUthmān Qālasamiʿt ʿUthmān

I heard ʿUthman ؓ say on the minbar: O people, I concealed from you a hadeeth that I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for fear that you would scatter away from me, then I thought that I should tell it to you, and let each one choose for himself what he thinks is best. I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ʿGuarding the border for one day for the sake of Allah is better than a thousand other days doing other deeds.” ʿAbdullah bin ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Dhubab narrated... A similar hadeeth]  

أحمد:٥٥٨ – حَدَّثَنَا هَاشِمُ بْنُ الْقَاسِمِ حَدَّثَنَا لَيْثٌ حَدَّثَنَا زُهْرَةُ بْنُ مَعْبَدٍ الْقُرَشِيُّ عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ مَوْلَى عُثْمَانَ

قَالَسَمِعْتُ عُثْمَانَ يَقُولُ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّي كَتَمْتُكُمْ حَدِيثًا سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ كَرَاهِيَةَ تَفَرُّقِكُمْ عَنِّي ثُمَّ بَدَا لِي الْآنَ أَنْ أُحَدِّثَكُمُوهُ لِيَخْتَارَ امْرُؤٌ لِنَفْسِهِ مَا بَدَا لَهُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ رِبَاطُ يَوْمٍ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ يَوْمٍ فِيمَا سِوَاهُ مِنَ الْمَنَازِلِ  

ahmad:470 – Hāshim > Layth > Zuhrah b. Maʿbad al-Qurashī > Abū Ṣāliḥ a freed slave of ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān Qālasamiʿt ʿUthmān

I heard ʿUthman ؓ say on the minbar: O people, I concealed from you a hadeeth that I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for fear that you would scatter away from me, then I thought that I should tell it to you, and let each one choose for himself what he thinks is best. I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ʿGuarding the border for one day for the sake of Allah is better than a thousand other days doing other deeds.ʿ  

أحمد:٤٧٠ – حَدَّثَنَا هَاشِمٌ حَدَّثَنَا لَيْثٌ حَدَّثَنِي زُهْرَةُ بْنُ مَعْبَدٍ الْقُرَشِيُّ عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ مَوْلَى عُثْمَانَ بْنِ عَفَّانَ

قَالَسَمِعْتُ عُثْمَانَ يَقُولُ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّي كَتَمْتُكُمْ حَدِيثًا سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ كَرَاهِيَةَ تَفَرُّقِكُمْ عَنِّي ثُمَّ بَدَا لِي أَنْ أُحَدِّثَكُمُوهُ لِيَخْتَارَ امْرُؤٌ لِنَفْسِهِ مَا بَدَا لَهُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ رِبَاطُ يَوْمٍ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ يَوْمٍ فِيمَا سِوَاهُ مِنَ الْمَنَازِلِ  

darimi:2468 – Abū al-Walīd > Layth b. Saʿd > Abū ʿAqīl Zuhrah b. Maʿbad > Abū Ṣāliḥ a freed slave of ʿUthmān > ʿUthmān > al-Minbar /

I heard ʿUthman ؓ say on the minbar: O people, I concealed from you a hadeeth that I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for fear that you would scatter away from me, then I thought that I should tell it to you, and let each one choose for himself what he thinks is best. I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ʿGuarding the border for one day for the sake of Allah is better than a thousand other days doing other deeds.ʿ (Using translation from Aḥmad 470)  

الدارمي:٢٤٦٨ – أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو الْوَلِيدِ حَدَّثَنَا لَيْثُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَقِيلٍ زُهْرَةُ بْنُ مَعْبَدٍ عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ مَوْلَى عُثْمَانَ قَالَ

سَمِعْتُ عُثْمَانَ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ وَهُوَ يَقُولُ إِنِّي كُنْتُ كَتَمْتُكُمْ حَدِيثًا سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ كَرَاهِيَةَ تَفَرُّقِكُمْ عَنِّي ثُمَّ بَدَا لِي أَنْ أُحَدِّثَكُمُوهُ لِيَخْتَارَ امْرُؤٌ لِنَفْسِهِ مَا بَدَا لَهُ إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ «رِبَاطُ يَوْمٍ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ يَوْمٍ فِيمَا سِوَاهُ مِنَ الْمَنَازِلِ»  

bayhaqi:18505 – Abū Bakr b. Fūrak > ʿAbdullāh b. Jaʿfar > Yūnus b. Ḥabīb > Abū Dāwud > Ibn al-Mubārak > Abū Maʿn > Abū Ṣāliḥ a freed slave of ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān > ʿUthmān

[Machine] Uthman ibn Affan said in the mosque of Khayf: "O people, I heard a narration from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ which I used to conceal from you out of concern for you. But now it has become clear to me that I should advise you with it. I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: 'The day of striving in the cause of Allah is equal to a thousand days in other than it. So let each one of you look to himself.'"  

البيهقي:١٨٥٠٥ – أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ فُورَكٍ أنبأ عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ ثنا يُونُسُ بْنُ حَبِيبٍ ثنا أَبُو دَاوُدَ ثنا ابْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ عَنْ أَبِي مَعْنٍ عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ مَوْلَى عُثْمَانَ بْنِ عَفَّانَ قَالَ

قَالَ عُثْمَانُ بْنُ عَفَّانَ ؓ فِي مَسْجِدِ الْخَيْفِ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ حَدِيثًا سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ كُنْتُ أَكْتُمُكُمُوهُ ضِنًّا بِكُمْ قَدْ بَدَا لِي أَنْ أُبْدِيَهُ نَصِيحَةً لَكُمْ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ يَوْمُ الْمُجَاهِدِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ كَأَلْفِ يَوْمٍ فِيمَا سِوَاهُ فَلْيَنْظُرْ مِنْكُمْ كُلُّ امْرِئٍ لِنَفْسِهِ