عن عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ، قَالَ: قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: «يَا عَبْدَ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنَ سَمُرَةَ، لاَ تَسْأَلِ الإِمَارَةَ؛ فَإِنَّكَ إِنْ أُوتِيتَهَا عَنْ مَسْأَلَةٍ، وُكِلْتَ إِلَيْهَا، وَإِنْ أُوتِيتَهَا مِنْ غَيْرِ مَسْأَلَةٍ، أُعِنْتَ عَلَيْهَا، وَإِذَا حَلَفْتَ عَلَى يَمِينٍ، فَرَأَيْتَ غَيْرَهَا خَيْرًا مِنْهَا، فَكَفِّرْ عَنْ يَمِينِكَ، وَأْتِ الَّذِي هُوَ خَيْرٌ».
‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Samurah narrated that God’s Messenger said to him:
1. ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Samurah! Do not seek a position of authority;
2. for if you are given it at your request, you will bear the responsibility for it;
3. and if you are given it without seeking it, you will be helped.
4. And if you say an oath then find that an alternative is better, atone for the oath and do what is better. Related by al-Bukhari, 6622; Muslim.
Abu Sa‘īd‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Samurah ibn Ḥabīb belonged to the ‘Abd Shams branch of the Quraysh. He was one of the Quraysh nobility and he embraced Islam on the day of the Prophet’s takeover of Makkah. His original name was ‘Abd al-Ka‘bah, but when he embraced Islam the Prophet gave him his new name, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān. He joined the Prophet on the Expedition of Tabuk. He later took part in the conquest of Iraq, and fought in Khurāsān during‘Uthmān’s reign. He was the commander of the Muslim army that conquered the Sijistān province and the city of Kabul. He died in Basrah in Year 51 AH, 669 CE.
