1942 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Dawraqi narrated to us; Abu al-Nadr Hashim ibn al-Qasim narrated to us; Ziyad ibn Salam narrated to us; from Bilal ibn al-Mundhir, who said:

A man declared, “If I do not succeed today in drawing a single fault from al-Rabiʿ ibn Khuthaym toward anyone, then I shall never be able to bring one out at all.” So I said, “O Abu Yazid, the son of Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) has been killed.” He uttered istirjaʿ—“Indeed, we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return”—and then recited:

“Say: ‘O Allah, Originator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen, You will judge between Your servants concerning that over which they used to differ.’” ⦗Quran 39:46⦘

I asked, “What is your view?” He replied, “What can I say? Their return is to Allah, and upon Allah rests their accounting.”