(154) بَابُ مَنْ أَثْنَى عَلَى صَاحِبِهِ إِنْ كَانَ آمِنًا بِهِ
'A'isha said, "A man asked permission to come to the Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Messenger ofAllah said, 'He is an evil son of his tribe.' When the man came in, theProphet was courteous and cheerful towards him. When that man left, anotherman asked permission to come in. He said, 'He is an excellent son of histribe.' When he came in, he was not cheerful towards him as he had beencheerful towards the other man. When he left, I said, 'Messenger of Allah,you said what you said about so-and-so and yet you were courteous to him.You said what you said about so-and-so and I did not see you do the same.'He said, ''A'isha, the worst of people are those who are feared on accountof their bad language.'"
Reference: Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 338
In-book reference: Book 16, Hadith 6
English translation: Book 16, Hadith 338