عَنْ أبي مُوسى الأشْعرِيِّ رضي اللّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعَ النَّبيُّ صَلّى اللّهُ عَلَيْهِ وسَلَّم رَجُلًا يُثْني عَلَى رَجُلٍ وَيُطْرِيهِ في المدْحَةِ، فَقَالَ: «أهْلَكْتُمْ، أوْ قَطعْتُمْ ظَهرَ الرَّجُلِ» متفقٌ عليهِ.
Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) heard a man praising another and going to excess in praising him, so he said: "You have destroyed [him]" — or: "You have broken the man's back." Agreed upon (al-Bukhari and Muslim).
الشرح · explanation
وَيُطْرِيهِ: الإطْرَاءُ: المُبالَغَةُ في المَدْحِ. قطعتم ظهر الرجل: كناية عن إيقاعه في الهلكة، لما يحمله ذلك من العجب المهلك لصاحبه.
"And going to excess (yutrih)": itra' is exaggeration in praise. "You have broken the man's back": a metaphor for casting him into ruin, because of the [self-]conceit it induces, which destroys the one afflicted by it.
الدروس · lessons
النهي عن المدح في الوجه، وهذا محمول على من خيف عليه الاغترار بالمدح والوقوع في العجب، وأما إذا كان لا يضره ذلك بل يترتب عليه فائدة فلا بأس بذلك.
The prohibition of praising [someone] to his face; this is understood to apply to one for whom it is feared that he may be deluded by the praise and fall into conceit. But if it does not harm him, and rather a benefit results from it, then there is no harm in it.