as a man of resolute courage, one who upheld the transmitted Sunnah in ransoming Muslim captives, who avoided the gatherings of the governor he had accompanied, who was easy-going with regard to food, and who continued in that manner until he was martyred in Damascus at the hands of the Khārijites.

Al-Dāraquṭnī said: “Abū Bakr ibn al-Ḥaddād al-Shāfiʿī was prolific in hadith, yet he narrated from no one other than al-Nasāʾī, and he used to say, ‘I am content to take him as a proof between me and Allah the Exalted.’”

Al-Ṭabarānī stated in his Muʿjam (1): “Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Nasāʾī, the judge of Egypt, narrated to us,” after which he cited a hadith.

Abū ʿAwānah said in his Ṣaḥīḥ: “Aḥmad ibn Shuʿayb al-Nasāʾī, the judge of Ḥimṣ, narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Qudāmah narrated to us,” and he then mentioned a hadith.

Abū ʿAbd Allah ibn Manda reported, on the authority of Ḥamzah al-ʿUqbī al-Miṣrī and others, that al-Nasāʾī left Egypt in the last part of his life for Damascus. There he was questioned about Muʿāwiyah and the reports concerning his virtues. He replied, “(2) Is he not satisfied with being considered an equal—must he also be preferred?” They kept jostling his ribs (3) until he was expelled from the mosque; thereafter he was carried to Mecca, where he passed away.

That is how the report goes, though the correct version is that he was taken to Ramla.

Al-Dāraquṭnī said: “He set out for Hajj, was put to the test in Damascus, and attained martyrdom, saying:”