---
title: "We said: You are our master. He said: \"The Master is Allah.\" We said: And the best of us in superiority and the greatest among us in bounty. He said: \"Say what you have to say, or part of what you have to say, but do not let the devil deviate you (in praising me) · Narrated by Abu Dawud and Ahmad"
canonical_url: "https://getvaaz.com/en/hadith/3389"
last_updated: "2026-10-31"
language: "en"
grading: "Sahih"
source: "VAAZ — getvaaz.com"
---

# We said: You are our master. He said: "The Master is Allah." We said: And the best of us in superiority and the greatest among us in bounty. He said: "Say what you have to say, or part of what you have to say, but do not let the devil deviate you (in praising me)

عَن عَبدِ الله بنِ الشِّخِّير رضي الله عنه قَالَ: انْطَلَقْتُ في وَفدِ بَنِي عَامِرٍ إِلى رَسُولِ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، فَقُلنا: أَنتَ سيّدُنَا، فقال: «السَّيدُ اللهُ»، قُلنا: وَأَفْضَلُنا فَضْلاً، وأعظَمُنا طَوْلاً، فقال: «قُولُوا بِقَولِكُم، أَو بَعضِ قولِكُم، وَلَا يَسْتَجْرِيَنَّكُم الشَّيطَانُ».

‘Abdullah ibn ash-Shikhkhīr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I set out with the delegation of Banu ‘Āmir to meet the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). We said: You are our master. He said: "The Master is Allah." We said: And the best of us in superiority and the greatest among us in bounty. He said: "Say what you have to say, or part of what you have to say, but do not let the devil deviate you (in praising me)."

**Citation:** Narrated by Abu Dawud and Ahmad · Authentic

## Explanation

A group of people came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and on reaching him, they said - praising him - some words that he (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) disliked. They said: "You are our master." But the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to them: "The Master is Allah," Who possesses full sovereignty over His creation and they are His slaves. They also said: You are "the best of us in superiority" and the highest among us in rank, honor, and in merit. And you are "the greatest among us in bounteousness" and the most giving, the loftiest, and the most prestigious among us. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then advised them to say what they would typically say without affectation and not to be dragged by the devil to exaggeration and flattery that lead to committing what is prohibited of Shirk (polytheism) and its means.

## Lessons from the Hadith

- This Hadīth shows how the Prophet's Companions held and revered him in high esteem.
- Prohibiting affectation in words and encouraging the act of speaking moderately.
- Protecting Tawhīd (monotheism) from words and deeds that could violate it.
- Prohibition of exaggeration in praising, which is one of the devil's access points.
- The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) is the master of the children of Adam, and what is mentioned in the Hadīth is an expression of humility and fear for them lest they exaggerate in honoring him.

## Topics

- [Creed](https://getvaaz.com/en/hadith/topic/akide)

## Related Hadith

- [If Allah wills to do good to a ruler, He appoints for him a truthful adviser, who will…](https://getvaaz.com/en/hadith/3011) — Narrated by Abu Dawud
- [When a man loves his brother, he should tell him that he loves him](https://getvaaz.com/en/hadith/3017) — Narrated by Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and An-Nasā’i in Al-Kubra and by Ahmad
- [The Messenger's right hand was for his purification and eating, and his left hand was…](https://getvaaz.com/en/hadith/3019) — Narrated by Abu Dawud - Narrated by Ahmad
- [It is out of glorification of Allah, Almighty, to honor the grey-haired (old) Muslim…](https://getvaaz.com/en/hadith/3032) — Narrated by Abu Dawud

English text: HadeethEnc.com

Hadith collection: https://getvaaz.com/en/hadith

---

Source: [VAAZ — getvaaz.com](https://getvaaz.com/en) · This is the agent-facing Markdown edition of the page; the canonical edition lives at the `canonical` URL above. Full index: https://getvaaz.com/llms.txt