252 – Hamzah ibn al-‘Abbās narrated to me; he said: ‘Abdān ibn ‘Uthmān narrated to us; he said: ‘Abd Allāh narrated to us; he said: Yūnus ibn Yazīd narrated to us, from al-Zuhrī; he said: Ibrāhīm ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ‘Awf informed me that he once came to Mu‘āwiyah ﵁ as a delegate during his caliphate. He said:

“I entered the screened chamber, offered greetings to a gathering of people from Syria, and sat down among them. One of them asked, ‘Who are you, young man?’ I replied, ‘I am Ibrāhīm ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ‘Awf.’

He said, ‘May Allah have mercy on your father. So-and-so—he named him—told me that he once said, “By Allah, I will certainly join the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, renew my acquaintance with them, and speak with them.” So I travelled to Medina in the caliphate of ‘Uthmān, met them all except ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ‘Awf, and was informed that he was on an estate of his at al-Jurf. I mounted, rode out to him, and found him with his cloak laid aside, guiding water with a spade in his hand. When he saw me he felt shy, threw the spade aside, and picked up his cloak. I greeted him and said, “I have come for a purpose, and I have witnessed something even more astonishing. Has anything reached you other than what has reached us? Do you know anything beyond what we know?”’

‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ‘Awf replied, ‘Nothing has reached us except what has reached you, and we know nothing except what you know.’

I then said, ‘Why is it that we are content to renounce the world while you seek it; we are eager for jihad while you are hesitant—yet you are our forerunners, the best among us, and the Companions of our Prophet ﷺ?’

‘Abd al-Raḥmān said ⦗124⦘, ‘Nothing has reached us except what has reached you, and we know nothing except what you know. The difference is that we were tried with hardship alongside the Messenger of Allah and we were patient, but when we were tried with prosperity we failed to persevere.’”