Sunan Abi Dawud 4807
سنن أبي داود#4807Sahihحَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادٌ، عَنْ يُونُسَ، وَحُمَيْدٍ، عَنِ الْحَسَنِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مُغَفَّلٍ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " إِنَّ اللَّهَ رَفِيقٌ يُحِبُّ الرِّفْقَ وَيُعْطِي عَلَيْهِ مَا لاَ يُعْطِي عَلَى الْعُنْفِ " .
Abd Allah b. Mughaffal reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying :Allah is gentle, likes gentleness, and gives for gentleness what he does not give for harshness
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
Al-AlbaniSahih
Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul HamidSahih
Zubair Ali ZaiSahih
In-book reference: 43:35