Arabic (Original)
حَدَّثَنَا حُجَيْنٌ وَيُونُسُ قَالَا حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ عَنْ أَبِي الزُّبَيْرِ عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ أَنَّ حَاطِبَ بْنَ أَبِي بَلْتَعَةَ كَتَبَ إِلَى أَهْلِ مَكَّةَ يَذْكُرُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَرَادَ غَزْوَهُمْ فَدُلَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَى الْمَرْأَةِ الَّتِي مَعَهَا الْكِتَابُ فَأَرْسَلَ إِلَيْهَا فَأُخِذَ كِتَابُهَا مِنْ رَأْسِهَا وَقَالَ يَا حَاطِبُ أَفَعَلْتَ قَالَ نَعَمْ أَمَا إِنِّي لَمْ أَفْعَلْهُ غِشًّا لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَقَالَ يُونُسُ غِشًّا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَلَا نِفَاقًا قَدْ عَلِمْتُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ مُظْهِرٌ رَسُولَهُ وَمُتِمٌّ لَهُ أَمْرَهُ غَيْرَ أَنِّي كُنْتُ عَزِيزًا بَيْنَ ظَهْرِيهِمْ وَكَانَتْ وَالِدَتِي مِنْهُمْ فَأَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَتَّخِذَ هَذَا عِنْدَهُمْ فَقَالَ لَهُ عُمَرُ أَلَا أَضْرِبُ رَأْسَ هَذَا قَالَ أَتَقْتُلُ رَجُلًا مِنْ أَهْلِ بَدْرٍ مَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ قَدْ اطَّلَعَ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَدْرٍ فَقَالَ اعْمَلُوا مَا شِئْتُمْ.
English Translation
Hujayn and Yunus told us, they said: al-Layth ibn Sa'd told us, from Abu al-Zubayr, from Jabir ibn Abdullah: that Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah wrote to the people of Makkah informing them that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, intended to wage war against them. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was directed to the woman who was carrying the letter, so he sent for her, and the letter was taken from her hair. He said: "O Hatib, did you do this?" He said: "Yes. But I did not do it out of deceit toward the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him" - and Yunus said: "deceit, O Messenger of Allah, nor hypocrisy. I knew that Allah would make His Messenger prevail and complete His affair for him, but I was a man of standing among them, and my mother was one of them, so I wanted to secure a favor with them for this." Umar said to him: "Shall I not strike off this man's head?" He said: "Would you kill a man who was present at Badr? What do you know - perhaps Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has looked upon the people of Badr [with mercy]" - and he said: "Do as you wish."