Arabic (Original)
حَدَّثَنَا أَسْوَدُ بْنُ عَامِرٍ قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو إِسْرَائِيلَ عَنْ عَطِيَّةَ عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ يَرْفَعُهُ قَالَ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيَتَكَلَّمُ بِالْكَلِمَةِ لَا يُرِيدُ بِهَا بَأْسًا إِلَّا لِيُضْحِكَ بِهَا الْقَوْمَ فَإِنَّهُ لَيَقَعُ مِنْهَا أَبْعَدَ مِنْ السَّمَاءِ.
English Translation
Aswad ibn 'Amir told us, saying: Abu Isra'il informed us, from 'Atiyyah, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, attributing it to the Prophet, who said, "Indeed, a man may speak a word not intending any harm by it, only to make people laugh, yet by it he falls further than the distance to the sky."