394 – ‘Abdullāh narrated to us: Mu‘ādh ibn al-Muthannā narrated to me: al-Husayn ibn al-Aswad narrated to us, saying: Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Mughīra narrated to me, saying: Muhammad ibn ‘Alī al-Sammān narrated to me, saying: I heard Ridwān al-Sammān say:

“I had a neighbour, both at home and in the marketplace, who used to revile Abū Bakr and ‘Umar. We argued repeatedly about this, until one day he reviled them in my presence. A heated argument broke out between us, until he lashed out at me and I at him. I returned home distressed and saddened, reproaching myself. I went to sleep and missed the evening prayer because of my distress.

“That night I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in a dream. I said to him, ‘O Messenger of Allah, so-and-so is my neighbour, both at home and in the marketplace, and he reviles your Companions.’ He asked, ‘Which of my Companions?’ I replied, ‘Abū Bakr and ‘Umar.’ The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Take this knife and slit his throat with it.’

“So I seized him, laid him down, and slit his throat. It seemed to me that some of his blood had stained my hands, so I threw down the knife, pressed my hands to the ground, and wiped them on the earth. I awoke to the sound of cries coming from the direction of his house. I said to the servant, ‘Go and see what these cries are about.’ He replied, ‘So-and-so has died suddenly.’ When morning came, we examined his throat and found a line where it would have been slit.”