حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْمَلِكِ بْنُ عَمْرٍو حَدَّثَنَا مَالِكٌ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ دِينَارٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ مَا شَجَرَةٌ لَا يَسْقُطُ وَرَقُهَا وَهِيَ مِثْلُ الْمُؤْمِنِ أَوْ قَالَ الْمُسْلِمِ قَالَ فَوَقَعَ النَّاسُ فِي شَجَرِ الْبَوَادِي قَالَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ وَوَقَعَ فِي نَفْسِي أَنَّهَا النَّخْلَةُ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ هِيَ النَّخْلَةُ قَالَ فَذَكَرْتُ ذَلِكَ لِعُمَرَ فَقَالَ لَأَنْ تَكُونَ قُلْتَهَا كَانَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيَّ مِنْ كَذَا وَكَذَا
مسند امام احمد بن حنبل · Hadith 5274
It was narrated from Ibn Umar that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "What is a tree whose leaves do not fall and if is like the believer, or the Muslim?" And the people started to name trees of the desert- Ibn 'Umar said: It occurred to me that it was the date palm, then the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "It is the date palm." I mentioned that to 'Umar and he said: If you had said it, that would have been dearer to me than such and such.
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020