2 – Al-Ḥārith narrated, on the authority of Abū al-Julās, who said: “I was among those who heard ʿAbd Allāh al-Shaybānī utter some grave words. We therefore seized him and brought him to ʿAlī – all the while shaking him by the neck on the way. We found ʿAlī in the public square, lying on his back with one leg resting on the other. He asked the man about those words, and the man repeated them. ʿAlī said, ‘Do you report this from Allah Most High, from His Book, or from His Messenger?’ He replied, ‘No.’ ʿAlī asked, ‘Then from whom do you transmit it?’ He answered, ‘From myself.’ ʿAlī said, ‘Had you claimed that you narrate it from Allah, or from His Book, or from His Messenger, I would have struck off your neck; and had you attributed it to me, I would have punished you severely, for you would be a liar. But I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: “Before the Hour there will arise thirty impostors.”’

A variant narration, also from Abū al-Julās, states: “I was among those who heard ʿAbd Allāh al-Shaybānī utter some grave words, so we brought him to ʿAlī. We found him in the public square, lying on his back with one leg over the other. He questioned the man about the words, and the man spoke. ʿAlī said, ‘Do you narrate this from Allah Most High, from His Book, or from His Messenger?’ He said, ‘No.’ He asked, ‘Then from whom do you narrate it?’ He replied, ‘From myself.’ ʿAlī said, ‘Had you claimed it was from Allah, or from His Book, or from His Messenger, I would have struck off your neck; and had you attributed it to me, I would have punished you painfully, for you would be a liar. But I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: “Before the Hour there will arise thirty impostors.” You are one of them.”