51 — Al-Firyābī narrated to us: Safwān ibn Sālih narrated to us: al-Walīd ibn Muslim narrated to us: Ibn Lahīa narrated to us: Bukayr ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Ashajj narrated to me, from Busr ibn Saīd, from Ubayd Allah ibn Abī Rāfi, the freedman of Umm ⦗353⦘ Salama, that when the Harurites broke away while they were with Alī ibn Abī Tālib, they said, “Judgment belongs to Allah alone.”

Alī replied, “Yes—a true statement intended to serve a false purpose. The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—described a people whose characteristics I readily recognize. They speak the truth, but it does not pass beyond here,” and he pointed to his throat. “Of all Allah’s creatures, they are the most hateful to Allah. Among them is a black man, one of whose hands resembles an ewe’s teat or the nipple of a breast.”

When Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—had killed them, he said, “Look for him.” They searched but found nothing. He then said, “Go back and search again. By Allah, I have neither lied nor been lied to,” repeating this twice or three times. They later found him in a ruin and brought him to Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—placing him before him.

Ubayd Allah ibn Abī Rāfi said, “I was present during that affair of theirs.”