صحیح مسلم · Hadith 2434

Sa'd reported that the Messenger of Allah ( ‌صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم ‌ ) bestowed (some gifts) upon a group of people and I was sitting amongst them. The Messenger of Allah ( ‌صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم ‌ ), however, left a person and he did not give him anything. and he seemed to me the most excellent among them (and thus deserved the gifts more than anyone else). So I stood up before the Messenger of Allah ( ‌صلی ‌اللہ ‌علیہ ‌وسلم ‌ ) and said to him in undertone: Messenger of Allah, what about so and so? By Allah, I find him a believer. He (the Messenger of Allah) said: He may be a Muslim. I kept quiet for a short while, and then what I knew of him urged me (to plead his case again) and I said: Messenger of Allah, what about so and so? By Allah, I find him a believer. Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) said: He may be a Muslim. I again remained quiet for a short while, and what I knew of him again urged me (to plead his case so I) said: Messenger of Allah, what about so and so? By Allah, I find him a believer. Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) said: He may be a Muslim. I often bestow (something) upon a person, whereas someone else is dearer to me than he, because of the fear that he may fall headlong into the fire. And in the hadith transmitted by Hulwani this statement was repeated twice.