What is Sunan Abu Dawud 5011 about?

This hadith from Sunan Abu Dawud (Book of General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)), narrated by Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying :, states: "it is better for a man’s belly to be full of pus than to be full of poetry. Abu ‘Ali said : I have been told that Abu ‘Ubaid said : It means that his heart is full of poetry so much so that it make…"

Is this hadith authentic?

This hadith is graded Da'if in chain. The grade indicates the level of authenticity based on the chain of narration and content analysis.

Which collection is this hadith from?

This hadith is from Sunan Abu Dawud, which contains 5,276 hadiths across 43 books. It is hadith number 5011 in the Book of General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab).

I searched for a different number — is this the right hadith?

Hadith numbering varies across editions and translations (USC-MSA, Dar as-Salam, Fath al-Bari, and others). If you followed a link citing a different number but landed here, you may have been redirected to the canonical version in our library. If you were looking for a different hadith entirely, use the search bar to find it by text.

‹

#5010

#5011

Sunan Abu Dawud

#5012

›

Sunan Abu Dawud #5011

General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)

Da'if in chain

The Arabic includes the chain of narration (sanad) and the collector's commentary; the English translation shows the Prophet's words only.

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْوَلِيدِ الطَّيَالِسِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ لأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ أَحَدِكُمْ قَيْحًا خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عَلِيٍّ بَلَغَنِي عَنْ أَبِي عُبَيْدٍ أَنَّهُ قَالَ وَجْهُهُ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ قَلْبُهُ حَتَّى يَشْغَلَهُ عَنِ الْقُرْآنِ وَذِكْرِ اللَّهِ فَإِذَا كَانَ الْقُرْآنُ وَالْعِلْمُ الْغَالِبُ فَلَيْسَ جَوْفُ هَذَا عِنْدَنَا مُمْتَلِئًا مِنَ الشِّعْرِ وَإِنَّ مِنَ الْبَيَانِ لَسِحْرًا ‏.‏ قَالَ كَأَنَّ الْمَعْنَى أَنْ يَبْلُغَ مِنْ بَيَانِهِ أَنْ يَمْدَحَ الإِنْسَانَ فَيَصْدُقَ فِيهِ حَتَّى يَصْرِفَ الْقُلُوبَ إِلَى قَوْلِهِ ثُمَّ يَذُمَّهُ فَيَصْدُقَ فِيهِ حَتَّى يَصْرِفَ الْقُلُوبَ إِلَى قَوْلِهِ الآخَرِ فَكَأَنَّهُ سَحَرَ السَّامِعِينَ بِذَلِكَ ‏.‏

it is better for a man’s belly to be full of pus than to be full of poetry. Abu ‘Ali said : I have been told that Abu ‘Ubaid said : It means that his heart is full of poetry so much so that it makes him neglectful of the Quran and remembrance of Allah. If the Quran and the knowledge (of religion) are dominant, the belly will not be full of poetry in our opinion. Some eloquent speech is magic. It means that a man expresses his eloquence by praising another man, and he speaks the truth about him so much so that he attracts the hearts to his speech. He then condemns him and speaks the truth about him so much so that he attracts the hearts to another of his speech, as if he spelled the audience by it.

Narrated by Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying :

Context

In this hadith, Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) stated it is better for a person's stomach to be filled with pus than with poetry. This statement underscores the importance of prioritizing spiritual nourishment over superficial or frivolous pursuits.

Modern Application

Today, this principle can be applied to the consumption of knowledge and entertainment. It encourages individuals to focus on meaningful and beneficial content rather than getting lost in distractions that do not contribute to their spiritual or personal growth.

Topics

This hadith is tagged with Ethics of Speech and Respectful Communication because it emphasizes the value of meaningful discourse over trivial or harmful expressions.

Ethics of Speech Respectful Communication