Why he told them to stop cursing their own children
The reason given is not that it is unkind.
لاَ تَدْعُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ وَلاَ تَدْعُوا عَلَى أَوْلاَدِكُمْ وَلاَ تَدْعُوا عَلَى خَدَمِكُمْ وَلاَ تَدْعُوا عَلَى أَمْوَالِكُمْ لاَ تُوَافِقُوا مِنَ اللَّهِ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى سَاعَةَ نَيْلٍ فِيهَا عَطَاءٌ فَيَسْتَجِيبَ لَكُمْ
Lā tadʿū ʿalā anfusikum, wa lā tadʿū ʿalā awlādikum, wa lā tadʿū ʿalā khadamikum, wa lā tadʿū ʿalā amwālikum. Lā tuwāfiqū mina-Llāhi sāʿata naylin fīhā ʿaṭāʾun fa-yastajība lakum
Do not pray against yourselves, or against your children, or against those who serve you, or against your property. Do not let it land on an hour from Allah in which giving is happening, and He answers you.
Where this comes from
The warning is not about temper. It is about timing. Something said in exhaustion at the wrong minute of the day could be taken up and granted, and the thing you said in a bad hour becomes the thing you have to live with.
The full narration
Jabir b. 'Abd Allah reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying:Do not invoke curse on yourselves, and do not invoke curse on your children, and do not invoke curse on your servants, and do not invoke curse on your property, lest you happen to do it at a time when Allah is asked for something and grants your request. Abu Dawud said: This Hadith has a continuous chain of narrators, 'Ubadah bin Al-Walid bin 'Ubadah (did) met Jabir
Source
Sunan Abī Dāwūd · 1532
- Al-Albani: Sahih
- Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih
- Shuaib Al Arnaut: Sahih
- Zubair Ali Zai: Sahih