Arabic (Original)
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ مَهْدِيٍّ حَدَّثَنَا مُعَاوِيَةُ يَعْنِي ابْنَ صَالِحٍ عَنْ ضَمْرَةَ بْنِ حَبِيبٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو السُّلَمِيِّ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ الْعِرْبَاضَ بْنَ سَارِيَةَ قَالَ وَعَظَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَوْعِظَةً ذَرَفَتْ مِنْهَا الْعُيُونُ وَوَجِلَتْ مِنْهَا الْقُلُوبُ قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ هَذِهِ لَمَوْعِظَةُ مُوَدِّعٍ فَمَاذَا تَعْهَدُ إِلَيْنَا قَالَ قَدْ تَرَكْتُكُمْ عَلَى الْبَيْضَاءِ لَيْلُهَا كَنَهَارِهَا لَا يَزِيغُ عَنْهَا بَعْدِي إِلَّا هَالِكٌ وَمَنْ يَعِشْ مِنْكُمْ فَسَيَرَى اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا فَعَلَيْكُمْ بِمَا عَرَفْتُمْ مِنْ سُنَّتِي وَسُنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ الْمَهْدِيِّينَ وَعَلَيْكُمْ بِالطَّاعَةِ وَإِنْ عَبْدًا حَبَشِيًّا عَضُّوا عَلَيْهَا بِالنَّوَاجِذِ فَإِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُ كَالْجَمَلِ الْأَنِفِ حَيْثُمَا انْقِيدَ انْقَادَ.
English Translation
Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi told us: Mu'awiyah, that is Ibn Salih, told us, from Damrah ibn Habib, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Amr al-Sulami, that he heard al-Irbad ibn Sariyah say: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, admonished us with an admonition that made our eyes shed tears and our hearts fearful. We said: O Messenger of Allah, this is indeed the admonition of one bidding farewell, so what do you enjoin upon us? He said: I have left you upon clear guidance, its night like its day; none deviates from it after me except one who is doomed. Whoever among you lives will see much disagreement, so hold fast to what you know of my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly-guided caliphs; cling to it and bite onto it with your molars. And obedience is incumbent upon you, even if it be to an Abyssinian slave, for indeed the believer is like a docile camel: wherever it is led, it follows.