Hadith Text
وَعَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رضي الله عنه، أَنَّ رَجُلًا قَالَ لِلنَّبِيِّ ﷺ: أَوْصِنِي، قَالَ: «لَا تَغْضَبْ»، فَرَدَّدَ مِرَارًا، قَالَ:«لَا تَغْضَبْ».رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ.
Full Translation
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), a man said to the Prophet ﷺ: “Advise me.” He said: “Do not become angry.” The man repeated his request several times, and each time he said: “Do not become angry.”
Narrated by al-Bukhari.
Meanings of Key Words
- أوصني — advise me; the man asks for a compact summary of religion he can live by.
- لا تغضب — do not become angry; not a denial that anger exists, but a command not to let it take over.
- ردد مراراً — he repeated it many times; he wanted something broader, but the Prophet ﷺ kept bringing him back to the same root issue.
Hadith Lessons
This hadith is short, but it is one of the most concentrated pieces of Prophetic advice in the Sunnah. The man asks for a broad instruction, and the Prophet ﷺ gives him one command: do not become angry. That does not mean anger is never felt. It means anger must not be given authority. The Prophet ﷺ is pointing to the place where many sins begin: a word spoken too fast, a decision made too quickly, a bond broken too easily, a regret that cannot be pulled back.
The repetition matters. The man hoped for a different answer, maybe a longer list or a more detailed rule. Instead, the Prophet ﷺ keeps returning to the same phrase. That repetition shows that this is not a side issue. For many people, anger is the doorway through which character collapses. If anger is mastered, many other problems weaken with it. If anger masters a person, even good intentions can be ruined by one moment of heat.
The hadith also teaches that self-restraint is not weakness. Some people think not reacting quickly makes them small. The Prophet ﷺ teaches the opposite: the person who can hold himself at the moment of irritation is the one with real strength. Anger is easy. Control is difficult. The spiritual work is not to never feel heat, but to prevent heat from becoming harm.
Three Questions to Close With
- What usually happens to my speech, my choices, and my tone when I get angry?
- If the Prophet ﷺ wanted to protect my life with one sentence, would “do not become angry” be enough to explain why?
- Do I treat anger as a normal emotion, or as a dangerous force that needs to be governed quickly?