Arabic (Original)
حَدَّثَنَا عُمَرُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ وَهُوَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ الْحَفَرِيُّ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ دِينَارٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنَّ مِنْ الشَّجَرِ شَجَرَةً لَا يَسْقُطُ وَرَقُهَا وَإِنَّهَا مَثَلُ الرَّجُلِ الْمُسْلِمِ قَالَ فَوَقَعَ النَّاسُ فِي شَجَرِ الْبَوَادِي وَكُنْتُ مِنْ أَحْدَثِ النَّاسِ وَوَقَعَ فِي صَدْرِي أَنَّهَا النَّخْلَةُ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ هِيَ النَّخْلَةُ قَالَ فَذَكَرْتُ ذَلِكَ لِأَبِي فَقَالَ لَأَنْ تَكُونَ قُلْتَهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِنْ كَذَا وَكَذَا.
English Translation
Umar ibn Sa'd — who is Abu Dawud al-Hafari — narrated to us: Sufyan narrated from Abdullah ibn Dinar from Ibn Umar who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: There is a tree among the trees whose leaves do not fall, and it is like the Muslim person. The people started thinking of trees of the desert, and I, being among the youngest, thought it was the date palm. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: It is the date palm. He said: I mentioned that to my father, and he said: Had you said it, that would have been dearer to me than such and such.