Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayba 37:582

'Affan narrated to us, he said: Mu'tamir ibn Sulayman al-Taymi narrated to me, he said: I heard my father say: Abu Nadra narrated to us, from Abu Sa'id, the freed slave of Abu Usayd al-Ansari, who said: Uthman heard that a delegation of the people of Egypt had arrived, so he went out to meet them. He was in a village outside of Medina, or as he said. He said: When they heard of him, they approached him at the place where he was. He said: I think he said, and he disliked that they should come to him in Medina, or something similar to that. So they came to him and said: "Call for the Mushaf (copy of the Quran)." He called for it, and they said: "Open the seventh," and they used to call Surah Yunus "the seventh." He recited it until he reached this verse: *{Say: "Have you considered what Allah has sent down for you of provision, of which you have made [some] lawful and [some] unlawful?" Say: "Has Allah permitted you [to do so], or do you invent [something] about Allah?"}* They said: "Have you considered what you have reserved of the protected pasture (hima)? Has Allah permitted you to do so, or do you invent [something] about Allah?" He said: "Carry it out; it was revealed regarding such and such. As for the protected pasture, Umar protected the pasture before me for the camels of the Sadaqah (charity). When I took charge, the camels of the Sadaqah increased, so I increased the pasture because of what increased of the camels of the Sadaqah. Carry it out." They began to confront him with the verse, and he would say: "Carry it out; it was revealed regarding such and such." And by the One who... [Abu Nadra says: Abu Sa'id says this to me, and I was at your age that day, and my beard had not yet grown, or my face had not yet matured that day—I do not know, perhaps he said another time: And I was thirty years old that day]. Then they confronted him with things for which he had no escape, so he recognized them and said: "I seek forgiveness from Allah and I repent to Him." He said to them: "What do you want?" They took his pledge, and he said: "And I think he said: And they wrote a condition upon him." He said: "And he took from them [a pledge] that they would not break the staff [of unity] and would not separate from the community as long as he fulfilled their condition for them," or as they took from him. He said to them: "What do you want?" They said: "We want that the people of Medina do not take a stipend, for this wealth is only for those who fought for it and for these elders from the companions of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace." So they were satisfied and returned with him to Medina, content. He stood up and gave a sermon, saying: "By Allah, I have never seen a delegation more concerned for my affairs than this delegation that has come to me"—and he said another time, I think he said: "than this delegation from the people of Egypt. Verily, whoever has crops, let him go to his crops, and whoever has livestock, let him milk them. Know that you have no wealth with us; this wealth is only for those who fought for it and for these elders from the companions of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace." The people became angry and said: "This is the deception of the Banu Umayya." Then the Egyptian delegation returned, satisfied. While they were on the road, a rider appeared to them, then left them, then returned to them, then left them, and cursed them. They said to him: "You have a matter; what is your business?" He said: "I am the messenger of the Commander of the Faithful to his governor in Egypt." They searched him and found a letter in the name of Uthman, with his seal, to the governor of Egypt, ordering him to crucify them, or kill them, or cut off their hands and feet. They turned back until they arrived in Medina and came to Ali. They said: "Do you not see the enemy of Allah? He ordered such and such regarding us. By Allah, his blood has become lawful. Rise with us against him." He said: "No, by Allah, I will not rise with you." They said: "Then why did you write to us?" He said: "No, by Allah, I never wrote a letter to you at all." They looked at one another, then some said to others: "Is this what you are fighting for, or is this what you are angry about?" Ali left and went out from Medina to a village or a property of his. They went until they entered upon Uthman and said: "You wrote such and such regarding us." He said: "There are only two options: either you produce two men from the Muslims [as witnesses], or my oath by Allah, besides whom there is no god, that I did not write and did not dictate. And you know that a letter can be written in a man's name, and a seal can be engraved like another seal." They said to him: "By Allah, Allah has made your blood lawful, and you have broken the covenant and the pledge." He said: "So they besieged him in the palace." He looked out over them and said: "Peace be upon you." He said: "I did not hear anyone return the greeting, except that a man returned it to himself." He said: "I adjure you by Allah, do you know that I bought the well of Ruma with my own wealth so that I might make its water sweet, and I made my bucket in it like the bucket of any of the Muslims?" They said: "Yes." He said: "Then why do you prevent me from drinking from it, until I break my fast on seawater?" He said: "I adjure you by Allah, do you know that I bought such and such land and added it to the mosque?" They said: "Yes." He said: "Do you know of anyone among the people who was prevented from praying in it?" They said: "Yes." He said: "I adjure you by Allah, did you hear the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him..." and he mentioned such and such a thing regarding his affairs, and he mentioned—I think he mentioned the writing of the Mufassal. He said: "The prohibition spread, and people began to say: 'Refrain from the Commander of the Faithful.' The prohibition spread, and al-Ashtar stood up—I do not know if it was that day or another day—and said: 'Perhaps he has deceived you and them.' He said: 'So the people trampled him until he suffered such and such.'" Then he looked out over them another time and exhorted them and reminded them, but the exhortation did not take effect in them. People used to be affected by exhortation the first time they heard it, but when it was repeated to them, the exhortation did not take effect in them. Then he opened the door and placed the Mushaf before him. He said: Al-Hasan narrated to us that Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr entered upon him and took hold of his beard. Uthman said to him: "You have taken hold of a place, or sat in a position, that Abu Bakr would not have taken or sat in." He said: "So he left and let him go." He said: And in the hadith of Abu Sa'id: A man entered upon him and said: "Between me and you is the Book of Allah." So he left and let him go. Then a man entered upon him who was called "The Black Death," and he strangled him and strangled him, then left. He said: "By Allah, I have never seen anything softer than his throat. By Allah, I strangled him until I saw his soul like the soul of a jinn moving in his body." Then another entered upon him and said: "Between me and you is the Book of Allah," and the Mushaf was before him. He struck at him with a sword, and he shielded himself with his hand, and it severed it. I do not know if it separated it or cut it without separating it. He said: "By Allah, it is the first hand that wrote the Mufassal." And it was narrated in other than the hadith of Abu Sa'id: Al-Tujibi entered upon him and pierced him with a spearhead, and the blood splashed onto this verse: *{So Allah will suffice you against them, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.}* And it remained in the Mushaf, not erased. The daughter of al-Farafisa—in the hadith of Abu Sa'id—took her jewelry and placed it in her lap, and that was before he was killed. When he was pierced or killed, she leaned over him or straddled him. Some of them said: "May Allah curse her, how large her buttocks are!" So he knew that the enemies of Allah wanted nothing but the world.