Narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man was mentioned in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), so another man praised him (excessively). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Woe to you! You have cut your companion's neck." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) kept repeating this statement, (then said:) "If anyone must praise someone, let him say: In my opinion, he is such and such, if he truly thinks so, and let him also say: Allah knows best. He is the one who takes account, and no one should declare anyone pure before Allah."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Musa Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) heard a man praising someone and exaggerating greatly in his praise. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "You have destroyed him," or he said: "You have broken this man's back."

It is narrated from Yazid bin Sharik Taimi that we were in the gathering of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) when a man praised another man in his presence. So Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: You have destroyed this man, may Allah destroy you.

Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Praising is like slaughtering. Imam Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The slaughtering happens when he accepts the praise.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Abu Bakr is a good man, Umar is a good man, Abu Ubaidah is a good man, Usayd bin Hudair is a good man, Thabit bin Qais bin Shammas is a good man, Mu'adh bin Amr bin Jamuh is a good man, and Mu'adh bin Jabal is a good man." And he said: "So-and-so is a bad man and so-and-so is a bad man." Until he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) counted seven men.

Narrated from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that a man sought permission to enter upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The one coming is a bad person from the tribe." But when he entered, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) received him warmly and with a cheerful face. When he left, another person sought permission to enter. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "A good man from the tribe has come." When he entered, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not greet him as happily as he had greeted the first one, nor did he receive him as warmly. When he left, I said: O Messenger of Allah! You said such and such about so-and-so and then received him warmly, and you praised so-and-so but did not receive him as warmly as you did the first one? The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "O Aisha! The worst of people is the one whose evil conduct people avoid by honoring him."

It is narrated from Abu Ma'mar (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man began to flatter an amir, so Sayyiduna Miqdad (may Allah be pleased with him) started throwing dust on his face and said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) commanded us to throw dust into the mouths of those who flatter.

It is narrated from Ata bin Abi Rabah (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man was praising another man in the presence of Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), so Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) took a handful of soil and began to throw it at his mouth and said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "When you see those who praise (others excessively), throw dust in their mouths."

It is narrated from Raja’ (may Allah have mercy on him) that one day I came to the mosque of the people of Basra with Sayyiduna Mihjan Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him), and at one of the doors, Sayyiduna Buraidah Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) was sitting. Raja’ says that there was a man in the mosque who was called Sakbah, who used to perform very long prayers. When we reached the door of the mosque, Sayyiduna Buraidah (may Allah be pleased with him) was sitting wrapped in a cloak, and he had a humorous and playful nature, so he said:“O Mihjan! Will you pray like Sakbah?”Hearing this, Sayyiduna Mihjan (may Allah be pleased with him) did not reply and returned. Then Sayyiduna Mihjan (may Allah be pleased with him) said that once the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) took my hand and we kept walking until we climbed Mount Uhud. From there, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saw Madinah Tayyibah, so he turned towards it and said:“This town will be in a bad state when its inhabitants leave it at a time when it is flourishing. Dajjal will come to it, and he will find an angel at every one of its gates, so Dajjal will not be able to enter it.”After that, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) descended from the mountain until we entered the mosque, where he saw a man praying, performing bowing and prostration. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me:“Who is this?”I began to praise him greatly. I said: O Messenger of Allah! This is so-and-so, so-and-so. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:“Stop, do not let him hear it, otherwise you will destroy him.”After that, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) continued walking until he reached the apartments, then he dusted off his hands and said:“The best deed of your religion is that which is easiest. The best deed of your religion is that which is easiest.”The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said this three times.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Aswad bin Sari’ (may Allah be pleased with him) that I presented myself before the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! I have praised Allah in various ways and have also praised you. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:“Indeed, your Lord loves praise.”I began to recite poetry, when a tall, bald man sought permission to enter. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to me:“Be silent.”So he came in, and after conversing for a short while, he left. Then I recited poetry to the Prophet (peace be upon him) again. He came again, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) made me fall silent. Then he left. Two or three times he came in and went out. I asked: Who was this person for whose sake you instructed me to remain silent? The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:“This is the man who does not like falsehood.”