Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Nu'aymi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us; Muhammad ibn Isma'il narrated to us; Muhammad ibn al-Ala' informed us; Abu Usamah informed us, from Yazid, from Abu Burdah, from Abu Musa, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: 46/a “The likeness of a righteous companion and a bad companion is that of the seller of musk and the blacksmith’s bellows. As for the seller of musk, he will either give you some, or you will buy some from him, or you will at least find from him a pleasant fragrance. As for the blacksmith’s bellows, they will either burn your clothing, or you will find from them a foul smell.” (1)
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abi Tawbah informed us; Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Harith informed us; Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kisa'i informed us; Abd Allah ibn Mahmud informed us; Ibrahim ibn Abd Allah al-Khallal informed us; Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak narrated to us, from Haywah ibn Shurayh, who said: Salim ibn Ghaylan informed me that al-Walid ibn Qays al-Tujibi informed him that he heard Abu Sa'id al-Khudri—Salim said: or from Abu al-Haytham, from Abu Sa'id—that he heard the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, say: “Keep company only with a believer, and let none but a God-fearing person eat your food.” (2)
Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Kassab al-Naysaburi informed us; Abu al-Abbas al-Asamm informed us; Humayd ibn Ayyash al-Ramli narrated to us; Mu'ammal ibn Isma'il informed us; Zuhayr ibn Muhammad al-Khurasani narrated to us; Musa ibn Wardan narrated to us, from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “A person follows the religion of his close friend, so let each of you consider whom he takes as a close friend.” (3)
“And the Messenger will say, ‘My Lord, indeed my people have taken this Quran as something abandoned.’” (30)
“And the Messenger will say”—that is, the Messenger will say on that Day: “My Lord, indeed my people have taken this Quran as something abandoned”—meaning, they forsook it: they turned away from it, did not believe in it, and did not act upon what it contains.
It was also said that they treated it as rambling and vile speech, claiming that it was poetry and sorcery. This was the view of al-Nakha'i and Mujahid.