He said: Ibn Kathīr narrated from Sufyān, from his father, from Ibn Abī Nu’m,

from Abū Sa’īd (may Allāh be content with him), who said: ‘Alī (may Allāh be content with him) sent to the Prophet ﷺ a piece of gold. He divided it among four men: al-Aqra’ ibn Ḥābis al- Ḥanẓalī, then al-Mujāshi’ī; ‘Uyaynah ibn Badr al-Fazārī; Zayd al-Ṭā’ī, then one of Banū Nabhān; and ‘Alqamah ibn ‘Ulāthah al-‘Āmirī, then one of Banū Kilāb. The Quraysh and the Anṣār became upset and said, “He gives to the chiefs of the people of Najd and leaves us!” He said, “I am only trying to win their hearts (to reconcile them).” Then, a man came forward, with sunken eyes, prominent cheeks, a protruding forehead, a thick beard, and a shaven head. He said, “Fear Allāh, O Muḥammad (ﷺ)!” He ﷺ replied, “Who will obey Allāh if I disobey Him? Would Allāh entrust me with the people of the earth and you do not trust me?” A man asked permission to kill him — I think it was Khālid ibn al-Walīd — but he prevented him. When the man turned away, he ﷺ said: “From the offspring of this one — or from the progeny of this one — will come a people who will recite the Qur’ān but it will not go beyond their throats. They will pass through the religion as an arrow passes through the prey. They will kill the people of Islām and leave the people of idols. If I were to live to see them, I would surely kill them like the killing of (the nation of) ‘Ād.”