So I blew on them, and they flew off, and I interpreted them as two impostors who would arise after me—one was al-Aswad al-ʿAnsī and the other Musaylimah.

Al-Bukhārī also said: “Ishāq ibn Naṣr narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated to us; he informed me from Maʿmar, from Hammām ibn Munabbih, who heard Abū Hurayrah say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘While I was asleep I was brought the treasures of the earth, and two golden bracelets were placed upon my hands. Their weight burdened me, so I was inspired to blow on them. I blew, and they vanished, and I interpreted them as the two great liars who will appear in my time: the man of Ṣanʿāʾ and the man of al-Yamāmah.’ ”

Al-Bukhārī further said: “Saʿīd ibn Muḥammad al-Jarmī narrated to us; Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us; my father narrated to us, from Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿUbayda ibn Nashīṭ—elsewhere named ʿAbd Allāh—that ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah said: We have been told that Musaylimah the Liar came to Madinah and stayed in the house of the daughter of al-Ḥārith. He was married to the daughter of al-Ḥārith ibn Kurayz, the mother of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kurayz. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went to see him, accompanied by Thābit ibn Qays ibn Shammās—the one known as the Prophet’s orator—while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ held a small staff in his hand. He stood before Musaylimah and spoke to him.

Musaylimah said, ‘If you like, I will leave the authority to you now, and you can grant it to us after you.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, ‘Even if you were to ask me for this twig, I would not give it to you. Indeed, I see that you are the man about whom I was shown what I was shown. This is Thābit ibn Qays; he will answer you on my behalf.’ Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ departed.

ʿUbayd Allāh said, ‘I asked Ibn ʿAbbās about the dream of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of which he spoke.’ Ibn ʿAbbās said, ‘I was told that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “While I was asleep, I was shown that two golden bracelets were placed on my hands. I was alarmed by them and disliked them, but permission was granted to me, so I blew on them and they flew away. I interpreted them as two liars who will emerge.” ’

ʿUbayd Allāh added, ‘One of them was al-ʿAnsī, whom Fayrūz killed in Yemen, and the other was Musaylimah the Liar.’