al-ʿAbbās, on the authority of Abū ʿĀṣim al-Ghaṭafānī, said:
“Hudhayfah would keep on relating reports that people found alarming. Someone said to him, ‘At this rate you will soon be telling us that some of us will be transformed!’ He replied, ‘Indeed! There will most certainly be a metamorphosis among you—people turned into apes and swine.’
Abū Wāʾil reports from Hudhayfah that he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed, ‘Write down for me the names of everyone among the people who has professed Islam.’ So we recorded for him one thousand five hundred names (1).
Sufyān narrates—through al-Aʿmash, from Mūsā ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd, from his mother—who said: ‘Hudhayfah’s signet-ring depicted two cranes with the words “Praise belongs to Allah” between them (2).’
ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus likewise transmits—through al-Aʿmash, from Mūsā, from his mother—who said: ‘Hudhayfah’s ring was of gold, set with a dark-red yāqūt asmānjūnah (ruby). It bore two cranes facing each other, with the inscription “Praise belongs to Allah” between them (3).’
Ḥammād ibn Salamah related to us—through ʿAlī ibn Zayd, from al-Ḥasan, from Jundub—that
(1) Reported by Abu Bakr al-Shafi‘i in his Fawaid, 8/91/2, through the chain: Ishaq al-Harbi – Abu Hudhayfa – Sufyan – al-A‘mash – Abu Wa’il.
It is also recorded by Muslim (no. 149, Book of Faith), Ahmad 5/384, and Ibn Majah (4029) through several chains from Abu Mu‘awiyah – al-A‘mash – Abu Wa’il – Hudhayfah, who said: “We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he said: ‘Count for me how many people have embraced Islam.’ We replied: ‘O Messenger of Allah, do you fear for us when we are between six and seven hundred?’ He answered: ‘You do not know; perhaps you will be tested.’ And indeed we were tested until a man among us would only perform the prayer in secret.”
(2) Musa b. Abd Allah b. Yazid al-Ansari al-Khatmi is reliable (thiqa) and is among the narrators used by Muslim, whereas his mother—the daughter of Hudhayfah—is of unknown status.
In the Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq (19 470) it is related from Ma‘mar, from Qatadah, from Anas—or from Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari—that the engraving on his signet-ring was a crane with two heads; the kurki (crane) is a bird.
(3) The mother of Musa is not known.
The prohibition of men wearing gold is firmly established from the Prophet ﷺ in the hadiths of Abu Hurayrah, Ibn Umar, and Ali; see al-Bukhari 10/266, 11/266, and Muslim (2089), (2091) and (2078).