I set out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ until he entered an orchard and said, “Guard the gate for me.” He then sat on the platform (al-qaff) at the edge of the well and let his legs dangle.

Someone knocked at the gate, so I asked, “Who is it?” He replied, “Abu Bakr.” I said, “Messenger of Allah, it is Abu Bakr.” He said, “Give him permission and give him the glad tidings of Paradise.” Abu Bakr came in, sat on the platform with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and dangled his legs in the well.

Then the gate was struck again. I asked, “Who is it?” He answered, “ʿUmar.” I said, “Messenger of Allah, it is ʿUmar.” He said, “Give him permission and give him the glad tidings of Paradise.” (So I did.) ʿUmar entered, sat on the platform with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and dangled his legs in the well.

The gate was struck a third time, and I asked, “Who is it?” He replied, “ʿUthmān.” I said, “Messenger of Allah, it is ʿUthmān.” He said, “Give him permission and give him the glad tidings of Paradise together with an ordeal.” I granted him permission and conveyed the glad tidings of Paradise. He entered, sat on the platform with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and dangled his legs in the well.

This wording occurs in the present narration. It was also recorded by Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī (2) through the isnād of Abū Salamah. It is therefore possible that Abū Mūsā and Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥārith were both appointed to watch the gate, or that it concerns a different incident altogether.

Imām Aḥmad (3) likewise reported it from ʿAffān, from Wahīb, from Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah: I heard Abū Salamah—and I know of no one from whom he received it except Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥārith—

“That the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered an orchard and sat on the platform of the well. Abu Bakr came and asked permission, whereupon he said to Abū Mūsā, ‘Let him in and give him the glad tidings of Paradise.’ Then ʿUmar came and he said, ‘Let him in and give him the glad tidings of Paradise,’ and then ʿUthmān came and he said, ‘Let him in and give him the glad tidings of Paradise, but he will face a trial.’”

This version is closer to the first. Moreover, al-Nasāʾī (4) transmitted it through the isnād of Ṣāliḥ ibn Kaysān, from Abū al-Zinād, from Abū Salamah, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥārith, from Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī—and Allah knows best.

Imām Aḥmad (5) also said: Yazīd narrated to us; Hammām informed us, from Qatādah, from Ibn Sīrīn and Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd, from ʿAbd (6) Allāh ibn ʿAmr, who said: I was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when Abu Bakr came and sought permission. He said, “Let him in and give him the glad tidings of Paradise.” Then ʿUmar came and he said, “Let him in and give him the glad tidings of Paradise.” Then ʿUthmān came and asked permission, and he said, “Let him in and give him the glad tidings of Paradise.”

I said, “What about me?” He replied, “You will be with your father.” Imām Aḥmad alone reported this wording. It was also narrated by al-Bazzār and Abū Yaʿlā from Anas ibn Mālik in similar terms.