ʿAlī narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us; Abū al-Zaʿrāʾ—who heard it from his uncle Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, from his father—said:

“I came to the Prophet ﷺ and he looked me up and down. I asked, ‘To what do you call people, and from what do you forbid them?’ He replied, ‘That none be worshipped but Allah, and that the bonds of kinship be upheld.’

He went on to say, ‘A message from my Lord reached me, and it weighed heavily on me, for I thought the people would brand me a liar. Then I was told, “You will most certainly convey it, or something will certainly be done to you.”’ ”

Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Convey from me, even if it is only one verse.”

Al-Zuhrī remarked, “The message is from Allah; the Messenger’s duty is to deliver it; our duty is to submit to it.”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh commented, “Some individuals appropriated this statement and split into innumerable factions—without insight and without any sound authority to follow. In their ignorance, lacking proof or even a proper isnād (chain of transmission), they misled one another. All of it is from somewhere other than Allah, except for those to whom your Lord shows mercy; in it they found much contradiction. When Allah wills to wrap them in opposing parties and make them taste one another’s might, there is no turning it back—they continue to waver in their doubt.”