Sahih al-Bukhari 1217

Hadith text

Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) sent me for some job and when I had finished it I returned and came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and greeted him but he did not return my greeting. So I felt so sorry that only Allah knows it and I said to myself,, 'Perhaps Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) is angry because I did not come quickly, then again I greeted him but he did not reply. I felt even more sorry than I did the first time. Again I greeted him and he returned the greeting and said, "The thing which prevented me from returning the greeting was that I was praying." And at that time he was on his Rahila and his face was not towards the Qibla

Jabir bin Abdullah (رضی اللہ عنہ) bataate hain: Allah ke Rasool ne mujhe kisi kaam ke liye bheja, jab maine kaam khatam kiya, main wapas aakar Nabi ke paas gaya aur unhe salaam kiya magar unhone jawab nahi diya. Mujhe itna bura laga ke sirf Allah jaanta hai, aur maine khud se kaha: 'Shayad Allah ke Rasool naraz hain kyunke main jaldi nahi aaya.' Phir maine dobara salaam kiya magar Aap ne jawab nahi diya. Mujhe pehle se zyada bura laga. Phir maine tisri baar salaam kiya aur Aap ne jawab diya aur farmaya: "Jis cheez ne mujhe salaam ka jawab dene se roka woh yeh thi ke main namaz padh raha tha." Us waqt Aap apni sawari (Rahila) par the aur unka mun Qibla ki taraf nahi tha.

Sahih al-Bukhari 1217 · Book 21, Hadith 21