a small piece of gold, which he divided among four men—meaning chiefs of Najd. Quraysh and the Ansār became angry and said, ‘He gives to the leading men of Najd and leaves us out.’ He said, ‘I am only seeking to win their hearts.’

“Then a man came forward with deep-set eyes, prominent cheekbones, a protruding forehead, a thick beard, and a shaven head. He said, ‘O Muhammad, fear Allah!’ He replied, ‘Who would obey Allah if I disobeyed Him? Does Allah entrust me with the people of the earth, yet you do not trust me?’ A man asked his permission to kill him, but he forbade him.

“When the man turned away, he said, ‘From this man’s stock—or among his descendants—there will be people who recite the Quran, but it will not go beyond their throats. They will pass out of the religion as an arrow passes through its quarry. They will kill the people of Islam and leave the idolaters alone. If I live to encounter them, I will certainly slay them as ʿĀd were slain.’”

In another wording in the two Sahīhs, Abū Saʿīd said:

“While we were with Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as he was distributing a share, Dhū al-Khuwaysirah—a man from Banū Tamīm—came to him and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, be just!’

“He replied, ‘Woe to you! Who would be just if I were not just? You would indeed be disappointed and at a loss if I were not just.’

“ʿUmar said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, will you permit me to strike off his head?’

“He replied, ‘Leave him alone. He has companions whose prayer would make any one of you regard his own prayer as insignificant, and whose fasting would make him regard his own fasting as insignificant. They recite the Quran, but it does not go beyond their collarbones. They pass out of the religion as an arrow passes through its quarry. A man examines its arrowhead and finds nothing on it; then he examines its bindings and finds nothing on them; then he examines its shaft and finds nothing on it; then he examines its feathers and finds nothing on them. It has passed through too swiftly for intestinal matter or blood to cling to it. Their distinguishing sign is a black man, one of whose