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
suyuti:2640a –
Request/Fix translation

  

السيوطي:٢٦٤٠a –

"إذَا مَرَرْتَ ببلدة ليس فيها سلطانٌ فلا تدْخُلها، إنما السُّلطانُ ظِلُّ الله (وَرُمْحُهُ) في الأرض" .  

[ق] البيهقى في السنن [هب] البيهقى في شعب الإيمان وأبو الشيخ والديلمى عن أنس وضعف

See similar narrations below:

Collected by Bayhaqī
bayhaqi:16650 – Abū Muḥammad al-Sukkarī > Ismāʿīl al-Ṣaffār

[Machine] "From the Messenger of Allah ﷺ : A man once came to him and said, 'O Messenger of Allah, there is a town upon my journey that does not have a ruler, should I enter it?' The Prophet ﷺ replied, 'If you come across a town that has no ruler, do not enter it, for the ruler is the shade of Allah on earth, and his spear spreads the rule of Allah on earth.'"  

البيهقي:١٦٦٥٠ – أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ السُّكَّرِيُّ أَنْبَأَ إِسْمَاعِيلُ الصَّفَّارُ ثَنَا عَبَّاسُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللهِ التَّرْقُفِيُّ ثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللهِ الدِّمَشْقِيُّ ثَنَا الرَّبِيعُ بْنُ صُبَيْحٍ عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ

عَنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ قَالَ إِذَا مَرَرْتَ بِبَلْدَةٍ لَيْسَ فِيهَا سُلْطَانٌ فَلَا تَدْخُلْهَا إِنَّمَا السُّلْطَانُ ظِلُّ اللهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَرُمْحُهُ فِي الْأَرْضِ