أَخْبَرَنَا حُمَيْدُ بْنُ مَسْعَدَةَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادٌ، عَنْ أَبِي جَهْضَمٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، قَالَ كُنْتُ عِنْدَ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ فَسَأَلَهُ رَجُلٌ أَكَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقْرَأُ فِي الظُّهْرِ وَالْعَصْرِ قَالَ لاَ . قَالَ فَلَعَلَّهُ كَانَ يَقْرَأُ فِي نَفْسِهِ قَالَ خَمْشًا هَذِهِ شَرٌّ مِنَ الأُولَى إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَبْدٌ أَمَرَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِأَمْرِهِ فَبَلَّغَهُ وَاللَّهِ مَا اخْتَصَّنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بِشَىْءٍ دُونَ النَّاسِ إِلاَّ بِثَلاَثَةٍ أَمَرَنَا أَنْ نُسْبِغَ الْوُضُوءَ وَأَنْ لاَ نَأْكُلَ الصَّدَقَةَ وَلاَ نُنْزِيَ الْحُمُرَ عَلَى الْخَيْلِ .
I was with Ibn 'Abbas and a man asked him: "Did the Messenger of Allah recite during Zuhr and 'Asr?" He said: "No." He said: "Perhaps he used to recite to himself?" He said: "May your face be scratched! This question is worse than the first one. The Messenger of Allah was a slave whose Lord commanded him and he conveyed (the message). By Allah, the Messenger of Allah did not specify anything for us above the people, except for three things: He commanded us to perform Wudu' properly, not to consume charity, and not to mate donkeys with horses."
"Whoever keeps a horse for the cause of Allah out of faith in Allah and believing the promise of Allah, its feed, water, urine and dung will all count as Hasanat in the balance of his deeds."
It was narrated from Ibn 'Umar that the Messenger of Allah organized a horse race and sent them from Al-Hafya' and its finish line was Thaniyyat Al-Wada'; and he organized a race for horses that had not been made lean, and the course stretched from Ath-Thaniyyah to the Masjid of Banu Zuraiq.
It was narrated from Ibn 'Umar that the Messenger of Allah organized a race for horses that had been made lean, from Al-Hafya' and its finish line was Thaniyyat Al-Wada', and he organized another race for horses that had not been made lean, from Ath-Thaniyyah to the Masjid of Banu Zuraiq, and 'Abdullah was among those who took part in the race.
"The Messenger of Allah had a she-camel called Al-'Adba' which could not be beaten. One day a Bedouin came on a riding-camel and beat her (in a race). The Muslims were upset by that, and when he saw the expressions on their faces they said: 'O Messenger of Allah, Al-'Adba' has been beaten.' He said: 'It is a right upon Allah that nothing is raised in this world except He lowers it.'"