Abu Najih as-Sulami told that he heard God’s Messenger say, “He who causes an arrow to hit its mark in God’s path will have it count as a degree for him in paradise, if anyone shoots an arrow in God’s path it is equivalent to his setting someone free, and if anyone develops a grey hair on behalf of Islam it will be a light for him on the day of resurrection."
Baihaqi transmitted it in Shu'ab al-iman. Abu Dawud transmitted the first section, Nasa’i the first and second, and Tirmidhi the second and third. The version of Nasa’i and Tirmidhi has, “If anyone develops a grey hair in God’s path,” instead of “on behalf of Islam."
Narrated ‘Uqba b. ‘Amir told that he heard God’s Messenger say, "God most high will cause three persons to enter paradise for one arrow:
the maker when he has a good motive in making it, the one who shoots it, and the one who hands it; so shoot and ride, but your shooting is more appreciated by me than your riding. Everything with which a man amuses himself is vain, except his shooting with his bow, his training of his horse, and his playing with his wife, for they pertain to what is right.”
Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, and Abu Dawud and Darimi added, “If anyone abandons archery after becoming an adept through distaste for it, it is a blessing he has abandoned," or he said “for which he has been ungrateful."
Anas told that God’s Messenger had a she-camel called al-‘Adba' which had not been outstripped by any other, but a nomadic Arab came on a young riding camel of his and it outstripped it. That distressed the Muslims, but God’s Messenger said, "It is God’s right that nothing should become exalted in the world without His lowering it.”
