ʿUthmān, and he would solemnly swear in his sermons and elsewhere that he had neither killed him nor ordered his killing—he had not colluded in it, nor had he been pleased with it. Indeed, he had forbidden it, but they did not listen to him. This is established from him through chains of transmission that, in the estimation of many ḥadīth scholars, yield certainty—praise and bounty belong to Allah.
It is likewise soundly reported from him, through several independent routes, that he said:
“I hope that I and ʿUthmān are among those of whom Allah the Exalted has said: ‘We shall remove whatever rancor may be in their hearts, and they will be brothers, seated on couches, facing one another.’” ⦗al-Ḥijr 15:47⦘
It is also reliably related from him (1), through more than one chain, that he recited: “No blame shall attach to those who believe and do righteous deeds for what they may have consumed, so long as they are mindful, believe, and do righteous deeds, then are mindful, believe, and again are mindful and excel in goodness.” ⦗al-Māʾidah 5:93⦘
In another narration he said: “ʿUthmān —may Allah be pleased with him—was the best of us, the most dutiful in maintaining kinship bonds, the most modest, the most meticulous in purification, and the most God-fearing toward the Lord —exalted is He—.”

Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān (2) narrated, from Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb, from Ḥammād ibn Zayd, from Mujālid, from ʿUmayr ibn Zūdhī (3) Abū Kathīr, who said:
“ʿAlī once delivered a sermon, but the Khārijites interrupted him. He stepped down and said:
‘The likeness of me and ʿUthmān is that of three bulls—one red, one white, and one black—living in a thicket in which a lion lurked. Whenever the lion wished to kill one of them, the other two would defend him. The lion said to the black and the red, “This white one has exposed us in this thicket; leave him to me so that I may eat him,” so they left him, and the lion ate him.
‘After that, whenever the lion wanted one of the remaining two, the other would protect him. He then said to the red, “This black one has exposed us in this thicket, and my color is like yours. If you leave him to me, I shall eat him.” So the red left him, and the lion ate him. Then he said to the red (4), “Now I shall eat you.” The red replied, “Let me bellow three times first.” The lion said, “Do so.” He cried out, “Indeed, I was devoured the day the white one was devoured (5); had I supported him, I would not have been eaten.”’
‘ʿAlī then commented, “You were weakened the day ʿUthmān was slain—(had I supported him, I would not have been weakened),” and he repeated it three times.’

Ibn ʿAsākir (6) transmitted through the chain of Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Ḥaḍramī, from Sawwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAnbarī (7) the judge, from (Ibn) Mahdī, from Ḥammād ibn Zayd, from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, who said:
‘In the time of ʿUthmān (8), a woman would come to the Public Treasury, shoulder her load, and say, “O Allah, replace! O Allah, change!” When ʿUthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—was killed, Ḥassān ibn Thābit (9) composed the following lines (in the raml meter):’