حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللهِ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي نَافِعٌ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: أَخْبِرُونِي بِشَجَرَةٍ مَثَلُهَا مَثَلُ الْمُسْلِمِ، تُؤْتِي أُكُلَهَا كُلَّ حِينٍ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهَا، لاَ تَحُتُّ وَرَقَهَا، فَوَقَعَ فِي نَفْسِي النَّخْلَةُ، فَكَرِهْتُ أَنْ أَتَكَلَّمَ، وَثَمَّ أَبُو بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا، فَلَمَّا لَمْ يَتَكَلَّمَا قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم: هِيَ النَّخْلَةُ، فَلَمَّا خَرَجْتُ مَعَ أَبِي قُلْتُ: يَا أَبَتِ، وَقَعَ فِي نَفْسِي النَّخْلَةُ، قَالَ: مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَقُولَهَا؟ لَوْ كُنْتَ قُلْتَهَا كَانَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيَّ مِنْ كَذَا وَكَذَا، قَالَ: مَا مَنَعَنِي إِلاَّ لَمْ أَرَكَ، وَلاَ أَبَا بَكْرٍ تَكَلَّمْتُمَا، فَكَرِهْتُ.
Ibn 'Umar said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Tell me which tree is like the Muslim? It gives fruits at all times by the permission of its Lord and its leaves do not fall.' It occurred to me that it was the palm tree, but I did not want to speak as Abu Bakr and 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, were both present. When they did not speak, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'It is the palm tree.' When I left with my father, I said, 'Father, I thought that it was the palm,.' He asked, 'What kept you from saying that? If you had said so, I would have preferred that to such-and-such.' I said, 'What kept me from doing so was that I did not see you or Abu Bakr speak, so I did not like to speak out.'"
Reported by Al-Bukhari (No. 6144). Cited in Al-Adab al-Mufrad (No. 360).