I say: The account of Abū Muslim al-Khawlānī—whose given name was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Thuwab—and what befell him with al-Aswad al-ʿAnsī when the latter cast him into the fire, whereupon it became coolness and safety for him just as it had for the Friend Abraham (upon him be peace), will be cited later (1).

The Story of Zayd ibn Khārijah, His Speech After Death, and His Testimony to the Messengership of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and to the caliphate of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, then ʿUmar, and then ʿUthmān (may Allah be pleased with them)

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī (2) said: Abū Ṣāliḥ ibn Abī Ṭāhir al-ʿAnbarī informed us, my grandfather Yaḥyā ibn Manṣūr al-Qāḍī informed us, Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr Kashmard related to us, al-Qaʿnabī narrated to us, Sulaimān ibn Bilāl narrated from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib:

Zayd ibn Khārijah al-Anṣārī, of Banū al-Ḥārith ibn al-Khazraj, died during the caliphate of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān. He was covered with his cloak, then they heard a rattling in his chest, after which he spoke and said:

“Ahmad, Ahmad, in the first Book! True, true is Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq—weak in himself yet strong in the cause of Allah—in the first Book. True, true is ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, the strong and trustworthy, in the first Book. True, true is ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, upon their path. Four have passed and two remain; tribulations have come; the strong have devoured the weak; the tumult has risen, and news will reach you concerning your army: the Well of Arīs—ah, what is the Well of Arīs!”

Yaḥyā said: Saʿīd added, “After that a man from Banū Khaṭma died; he too was wrapped in his cloak, a rattling was heard in his chest, and he spoke, saying, ‘The brother of Banū al-Ḥārith ibn al-Khazraj has spoken the truth, the truth.’”

Al-Bayhaqī also transmitted it from al-Ḥākim, from Abū Bakr ibn Isḥāq, from Mūsā ibn al-Ḥasan (3), from al-Qaʿnabī, and cited it, remarking, “This chain is sound and it has corroborating reports (4).”

He then quoted it through the route of Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī al-Dunyā in his book Those Who Lived After Death: Abū Muslim ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yūnus narrated to us, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Idrīs narrated to us, from Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid. He said:

Yazīd ibn al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr came to the study circle of al-Qāsim ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān bearing a letter from his father, al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr—addressed to his mother—stating: “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. From al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr to Umm ʿAbd Allāh bint Abī Hāshim: peace be upon you. I praise before you Allah, there is no deity but He. You wrote asking me to inform you about the affair of Zayd ibn Khārijah, and that he was among…”