one of them that his companion narrated to me—from Murrah al-Bahzi, who said: While we were with the Prophet of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) on a road from the roads of Medina, he said: "What will you do in a trial that arises across the lands like the horns of cattle?" They said: What should we do, O Prophet of Allāh?! He said: "Adhere to this one and his companions—or: Follow this one and his companions." He said: So I hastened until I caught up with the man, and I said: This one, O Prophet of Allāh?! He said: "This one." And it was ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu). It was recorded by Ibn Ḥibbān in "Ṣaḥīḥ" (9/31/6875 - al-Iḥsān) - and it is among what was missed in "al-Mawārid" - and by Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim in "al-Sunnah" (2/591/1296) through the route of Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah - and it is in "al-Muṣannaf" (12/40-41) - and by Aḥmad (5/33 and 35), and also by al-Ṭabarānī (20/316/752) through the route of Abū Bakr and others (751), all of them from Abū Usāmah from Kahmas. I said: And this isnād is good, its men are trustworthy, the men of Muslim; except for Harami ibn al-Ḥārith and Usāmah ibn Khuraym, for they are both unknown followers, known only through this narration of ʿAbdullāh ibn Shaqīq, yet Ibn Ḥibbān mentioned them in "Thiqāt" (4/44-45 and 5/514) according to his criteria! However, one strengthens the other. And Abū Hilāl omitted them from the isnād, saying: from Qatādah from ʿAbdullāh ibn Shaqīq from Murrah al-Bahzi in a concise elevated report, in which: A veiled man passed by, and he said: "This one and his companions on that day are upon guidance." And it was ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān