105 – Hārūn ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us; he said: Sayyār ibn Ḥātim narrated to us; he said: Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān narrated to us; he said: ʿAlī ibn Zayd ibn Judʿān narrated to us; he said: al-Ḥasan reported:
“I went to Qudāmah ibn ʿAnazah al-ʿAnbarī”—Jaʿfar added: “He is the grandfather of Sawwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qudāmah ibn ʿAnazah”—“and found with him Mirdās Abū Bilāl, Nāfiʿ ibn al-Azraq, and ʿAṭiyyah ibn al-Aswad.
Mirdās Abū Bilāl spoke first, praising Islam—and,” al-Ḥasan said, “I never heard anyone depict Islam more eloquently than he did. Then he turned to the rulers, censuring them, and spoke of the new practices people had introduced; after that he fell silent.
Nāfiʿ ibn al-Azraq then spoke. He too extolled Islam with a fine description, reproached the rulers, and mentioned what the people had innovated.
Next ʿAṭiyyah ibn al-Aswad spoke. He likewise described Islam well—though not as impressively as Nāfiʿ ibn al-Azraq—then vilified the rulers and spoke of the innovations of the people.
At that point Qudāmah ibn ʿAnazah said to one of his household, “Help me sit up,” and then declared, “My brothers, everything you have said today—I recognize it just as you do, and I denounce what you denounce; I stand where you stand—so long as you do not raise weapons against us. But if you brandish the sword against us, then I disavow you.”