2064 — Abū Bakr ibn ‘Abd al-Hamīd al-Wāsitī also narrated to me: Ismā‘īl ibn Abī al-Hārith narrated to us: Makkī ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us: al-Ju‘ayd ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān narrated to us, from Yazīd ibn Khusayfa, from al-Sā’ib ibn Yazīd, who said: ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb was approached, and they said, “O Commander of the Faithful, we have encountered a man who asks about the interpretation of the Quran.” He said, “O Allah, place him within my power!”
He continued: One day, while ‘Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—was serving the people a meal, the man came to him wearing clothes and a turban. He ate until he had finished, then said, “O Commander of the Faithful: ‘By those that scatter far and wide, and those that bear a burden’” [al-Dhāriyāt: 2]. ‘Umar said, “Are you the one?” He rose toward him, bared his forearms, and continued flogging him until his turban fell off. He then said, “By Him in whose hand is my soul, had I found you with your head shaven, I would have struck off your head. Dress him in his clothes, seat him on a small camel saddle, and take him away until you bring him to his homeland. Then have him stand and address the people, saying: ‘Sabīgh sought knowledge but erred.’” Thereafter, he remained a man of low standing among his people until he died, though he had formerly been their chief.
2065 — Abū Zakariyyā Yahyā ibn Muhammad al-Hinnā’ī informed us: Muhammad ibn ‘Ubayd ibn Hisāb narrated to us: Hammād ibn Zayd narrated to us, from Yazīd ibn Abī Hāzim, from Sulaymān ibn Yasār, who said: A man from Banū Tamīm named Sabīgh ibn ‘Isl came to Medina. He possessed books and used to ask about the ambiguous passages of the Quran. This reached ‘Umar—may Allah be ⦗2557⦘ pleased with him—and he related the account in similar terms. It has several routes of transmission.
Muhammad ibn al-Husayn—may Allah have mercy on him—said: As for the report concerning ‘Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—we have already mentioned it earlier in this volume, concerning those whom he killed and burned. As for the report concerning ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz: