Abū al-Qāsim Abd Allāh ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Azīz al-Baghawī narrated to us, saying: Shaybān ibn Farrūkh narrated to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīra narrated to us, from Humayd ibn Hilāl, from a man who had been with the Kharijites but later left them ⦗388⦘. Abū al-Qāsim said: My grandfather and Abū Khaythama also narrated to me, saying: Ismāīl ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us, from Ayyūb, from Humayd ibn Hilāl, from a man of Abd al-Qays who had been with the Kharijites but later left them. He said:

The Kharijites entered a village, and Abd Allāh ibn Khabbāb came out in terror, dragging his cloak. Twice they said, “Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid!”

He replied, “By Allah, you have indeed frightened me.”

They asked, “Are you Abd Allāh, son of Khabbāb, the Companion of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him?”

He replied, “Yes.”

They said, “Did you hear from your father any hadith that he related from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, which you could narrate to us?”

He said: I heard him say, relating from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him: “He mentioned a period of civil strife: ‘During it, the one sitting will be better than the one standing, the one standing better than the one walking, and the one walking better than the one hastening ⦗389⦘.’ He said: ‘If you live to see it, be the servant of Allah who is killed.’ Ayyūb said: ‘As far as I know, he also said: “And do not be the servant of Allah who kills.”’

“They asked, ‘Did you hear this from your father as something he related from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him?’

“He replied, ‘Yes.’

“They then took him to the riverbank and struck off his head. His blood streamed out in a line like a sandal strap and did not disperse—that is, the blood did not mix with the water. They also ripped open the slave-concubine who had borne him a child, exposing what was in her womb.”