2370 – ʿUbayd Allah ibn Muhammad reported to us; he said: ʿUthman ibn Ahmad reported to us; he said: Hanbal narrated to us; he said: Dawud ibn Shabib narrated to us; he said: Hammad narrated to us; he said: ʿAli ibn Zayd related that Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib said to him, “Tell your servant to look at the face of this man.” I replied, “You can spare me that—just tell me about him.” He said, “Allah has darkened this man’s face. He used to revile ʿAli, Talha, and al-Zubayr. I kept forbidding him, but he refused to stop. So I prayed: ‘O Allah, if You know that these men possessed early merits and a noble precedence, and that what he is saying displeases You, then show me a sign in him and make him a sign for the people.’ Thereupon Allah blackened his face.”