—so Saʿd forbade him, but he paid no heed. Saʿd then invoked a curse against him, and before long a rampaging stray camel (1) came up and struck him again and again until he died.
This episode is supported by numerous isnāds; Ibn Abī al-Dunyā related it in his Mujābī al-Daʿwah (2).
A similar wording was transmitted by al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār, from Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥamzah, from Abū Usāmah, from Ibn ʿAwn, from Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Zuhrī, from ʿĀmir ibn Saʿd.
Abū Kurayb (3) also narrated it on the authority of Abū Usāmah.
Ibn Ḥumayd reported it from Ibn al-Mubārak, from Ibn ʿAwn, from Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Aswad.
I myself read the report to ʿUmar ibn al-Qawwās, from al-Kindī, who informed us; Abū Bakr the judge informed us; Abū Isḥāq al-Barmakī, in person, informed us; Ibn Māsī (4) informed us; Abū Muslim related it to us; al-Anṣārī related it; and Ibn ʿAwn narrated it.
Ibn ʿUlayyah likewise transmitted the story from Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad.
Ibn Judʿān narrated, from Ibn al-Musayyib, that a man used to revile ʿAlī, Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr. Saʿd repeatedly forbade him, saying, “Do not slander my brothers.” When the man persisted, Saʿd rose, prayed two rakʿahs (units of prayer), and supplicated against him. A Bukhtī camel burst through the crowd, seized the man on the flagstones, pinned him between its chest and the pavement until it crushed him. I saw the people flocking after Saʿd, saying, “Congratulations, Abū Isḥāq! Your supplication has been answered.” (5)