Al-Tirmidhī (1) reported: “Qutaybah narrated to us; ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad narrated to us, from Suhayl ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah:

‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was on Mount Ḥirāʾ together with Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Ṭalḥah, and al-Zubayr. The rock began to shake, so the Prophet ﷺ said, “Calm down! Upon you are only a prophet, a ṣiddīq (man of absolute truthfulness), or a martyr.”’

Then he added in the same chapter: ‘It is also related from ʿUthmān, Saʿīd ibn Zayd, Ibn ʿAbbās, Sahl ibn Saʿd, Anas ibn Mālik, and Buraydah al-Aslamī—and this is an authentic hadith.’

I (the author) say: It was likewise transmitted by Abū al-Dardāʾ, and al-Tirmidhī cited it from ʿUthmān in his sermon on the Day of al-Dār, mentioning that it occurred on Mount Thabīr.

[Another report]

It is the narration established in the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections (2) from Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī, from Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, who said:

‘I was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in an orchard, and he ordered me to guard the gate. A man came asking permission to enter. I said, “Who is it?” He replied, “Abū Bakr.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Let him in and give him glad tidings of Paradise.” Then ʿUmar came, and he said, “Let him in and give him glad tidings of Paradise.” Then ʿUthmān came, whereupon he said, “Let him in and give him glad tidings of Paradise after a trial that will befall him.”

He entered saying, “O Allah, grant patience.” In another wording: “Allah is the One whose help is sought.” This was narrated from him by Qatādah and Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī.

Al-Bukhārī (3) said: Ḥammād ibn Zayd stated, “ʿĀṣim al-Aḥwal and ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥakam narrated to us; they both heard Abū ʿUthmān relating from Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī something similar, and ʿĀṣim added: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting in a place where there was water and his knees—or knee—were uncovered (4); when ʿUthmān entered, he covered them.’”

This report is also found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (5) through the route of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib from Abū Mūsā, and it includes: ‘Abū Bakr and ʿUmar let their legs dangle with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ over the edge of the platform (al-qaff) above the well, but when ʿUthmān came he found no place [so he sat off to one side].’ Saʿīd [ibn al-Musayyib] said, ‘I interpreted that as their graves being together, whereas ʿUthmān’s would be separate.’

Imām Aḥmad (6) said: Yazīd ibn Hārūn (7) related to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr narrated to us, from Abū Salamah. He said: Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥārith said: