حَدَّثَنَا عَبْد اللَّهِ، حَدَّثَنَاه سُوَيْدُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، سَنَةَ سِتٍّ وَعِشْرِينَ حَدَّثَنَا رِشْدِينُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ، عَنْ زُهْرَةَ بْنِ مَعْبَدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، مَوْلَى عُثْمَانَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ عُثْمَانَ
قَالَ: أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ هَجِّرُوا فَإِنِّي مُهَجِّرٌ فَهَجَّرَ النَّاسُ ثُمَّ قَالَ: أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّي مُحَدِّثُكُمْ بِحَدِيثٍ مَا تَكَلَّمْتُ بِهِ مُنْذُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِلَى يَوْمِي هَذَا قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «إِنَّ رِبَاطَ يَوْمٍ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ أَلْفِ يَوْمٍ مِمَّا سِوَاهُ فَلْيُرَابِطْ امْرُؤٌ حَيْثُ شَاءَ هَلْ بَلَّغْتُكُمْ قَالُوا: نَعَمْ قَالَ: اللَّهُمَّ اشْهَدْ»
O people, move on in the middle of the day, for I am moving on in the middle of the day. So the people moved on in the middle of the day. Then he said: O people, I shall tell you a hadith of which I have not spoken since I heard it from the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) until this day.
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: ‘Guarding the border for one day for the sake of Allah is better than a thousand other days, so let a man guard the border as much as he wants.’ Have I conveyed the message to you? They said: Yes. He said. O Allah, bear witness.