Muhammad themselves have, at times, turned upon one another, fought for power, and momentous tragedies ensued—so from which faction are we supposed to declare our innocence?!

Muḥammad ibn al-Muẓaffar the ḥāfiẓ said: al-Qāsim al-Muṭarriz narrated to us, saying:
“I entered upon ʿAbbād in Kūfah. He used to examine the students, and he asked, ‘Who dug the sea?’
I replied, ‘Allah.’
He said, ‘That is correct, yet who actually excavated it?’
I answered, ‘The shaykh may enlighten us.’
He said, ‘ʿAlī dug it. And who set it flowing?’
I said, ‘Allah.’
He said, ‘Indeed, but who caused it to flow?’
I replied, ‘The shaykh will inform me.’
He said, ‘Al-Ḥusayn set it flowing, even though he was blind.’ I then noticed a sword and a shield (1).
I asked, ‘Whose are these?’
He said, ‘I have prepared them to fight alongside the Mahdī.’

“When I had finished hearing what I wished, I went in to him again. He asked, ‘Who dug the sea?’
I said, ‘Muʿāwiyah—may Allah be pleased with him—dug it, and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ set it flowing.’
Thereupon I leapt up and ran, and he began shouting, ‘Catch that reprobate, enemy of Allah—kill him!’ ”

Its chain of transmission is sound.
I cannot understand how people allowed themselves to take narrations from a man of such temperament; they relied solely on his truthfulness.

Al-Bukhārī said: “ʿAbbād ibn Yaʿqūb died in Shawwāl, 250 AH.”

I say: Some of his higher-level transmissions reached me in the book al-Baʿth by Ibn Abī Dāwūd. I also saw a fascicle of his from the book al-Manāqib in which he had gathered worthless material that the Household of the Prophet have no need for. Yet I do not believe he ever deliberately fabricated anything.

156 – Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dhakwān al-Bāhilī * (T)
The ḥāfiẓ, reliable authority, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Bāhilī, of Tirmidh, who resided in Baghdad.