(8) باب صُحْبَةِ الْمَمَالِيكِ وَكَفَّارَةِ مَنْ لَطَمَ عَبْدَهُ
Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari reported:
When I was beating my servant, I heard a voice behind me (saying): Abu Mas'ud, bear in mind Allah has more dominance over you than you have upon him. I turned and (found him) to be Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). I said: Allah's Messenger, I set him free for the sake of Allah. Thereupon he said: Had you not done that, (the gates of) Hell would have opened for you, or the fire would have burnt you.
Reference: Sahih Muslim 1659 c
In-book reference: Book 27, Hadith 56
USC-MSA web (English) reference(deprecated numbering scheme): Book 15, Hadith 4088