For this reason, some (1) of the scholars questioned al-Walīd ibn Abd al-Malik about this, saying to him (2): “O Commander of the Faithful, are you more honored in Allah’s sight, or is David? Yet He said to him:
“O David, We have made you a successor upon the earth, so judge between people with truth and do not follow desire, lest it lead you away from the way of Allah. Indeed, those who stray from the way of Allah will suffer a severe punishment because they forgot the Day of Reckoning.”
[Surah Sād: 26].
Likewise, when Sulaymān ibn Abd al-Malik questioned Abū Hāzim al-Madanī (3) about this during the latter’s famous admonition [to him] (4), Abū Hāzim cited this verse to him.
Despite their error and misguidance, they made this claim (5)] concerning obedience to an appointed imām (6), whom Allah has made it obligatory to obey in matters admitting of ijtihād, just as it is obligatory to obey the official in charge of
(1) The word *bad* (“some”) occurs only in (ع).
(2) (ع) reads: “the scholars, and he said,” which is erroneous.
(3) Abū Hāzim Salamah ibn Dīnār al-Araj al-Makhzūmī al-Madanī, a client of al-Aswad ibn Sufyān, was a trustworthy transmitter whose reports were narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim. He was renowned for his asceticism and scrupulous piety and died in 140 AH. See his biography in *Tadhkirat al-Huffāz*, 1:133–134; *al-Jarh wa-al-Tadīl*, vol. [0–9], pt. [0–9], p. [0–9]59; *Tahdhīb al-Asmā wa-al-Lughāt*, pt. [0–9]1, vol. [0–9], pp. [0–9]07–208; *Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb*, 4:143–144; Ibn Qutaybah, *al-Maārif* (Dār al-Kutub ed.), p. [0–9]79; *Hilyat al-Awliyā*, 3:229–259; *Tahdhīb Tārīkh Ibn Asākir* (Damascus ed.), 6:216–228; *Sifat al-Safwah* (Hyderabad ed., 1355 AH), 2:88–94; and *al-Alām*, 3:171–172.
(4) The phrase “to him” occurs only in (ع). This admonition is recorded in several works. See *Sunan al-Dārimī* (Damascus ed., 1349 AH), 1:155–158; *Hilyat al-Awliyā*, 3:234–237; Ibn Asākir, 6:218–222; and *Sifat al-Safwah*, 2:89–90. I found no mention of verse 26 of Surah Sād in the versions of the admonition contained in these sources.
(5) Here ends the omission in N and M.
(6) B and A read *masūm* (“infallible”), which is contrary to the intended meaning.