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2650 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān informed us; ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to us; Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā narrated to us; al-Aṣmaʿī narrated to us; Khālid ibn Yazīd al-ʿAlawī—of the clan of ʿAlī ibn Sawk—narrated to us; he said:
When al-Ḥasan came in to al-Ḥajjāj, the governor asked him, “What is your opinion of ʿAlī and ʿUthmān?”
Al-Ḥasan replied, “I say about them what someone better than I once said in the presence of someone worse than you.”
Al-Ḥajjāj retorted, “And who is that person who is better than you and worse than I?”
He answered, “Moses and Pharaoh—when Pharaoh said to him, ‘So what of the former generations?’ and Moses replied, ‘Their knowledge is with my Lord.’ (Tā Hā 20:52)"
٢٦٥٠ - أنا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، قَالَ: نا عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، نا زَكَرِيَّا بْنُ يَحْيَى، قَالَ: نا الْأَصْمَعِيُّ، قَالَ: نا خَالِدُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ الْعَلَوِيُّ، مِنْ بَنِي عَلِيِّ بْنِ سَوْكٍ، قَالَ: لَمَّا دَخَلَ الْحَسَنُ عَلَى الْحَجَّاجِ، فَقَالَ لَهُ: مَا تَقُولُ فِي عَلِيٍّ وَعُثْمَانَ؟ قَالَ: أَقُولُ فِيهِمَا كَمَا قَالَ مَنْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِنِّي بَيْنَ يَدَيْ مَنْ هُوَ شَرٌّ مِنْكَ. قَالَ: وَمَنْ ذَاكَ الَّذِي هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِنْكَ وَشَرٌّ مِنِّي؟ قَالَ: مُوسَى وَفِرْعَوْنُ، حِينَ قَالَ لَهُ فِرْعَوْنُ: ﴿فَمَا بَالُ الْقُرُونِ الْأُولَى، قَالَ عِلْمُهَا عِنْدَ رَبِّي﴾ [طه: ٥٢]