Musnad Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili 42:439

Qatan ibn Nusayr narrated to us, Ja'far ibn Sulayman narrated to us, al-Mu'alla ibn Ziyad narrated to us, he said: When Yazid ibn al-Muhallab defeated the people of Basra, al-Mu'alla said: I feared to sit in the circle of al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan, lest I be found there and recognized. So I came to al-Hasan in his house and entered upon him. I said: "O Abu Sa'id, what about this verse from the Book of Allah?" He said: "Which verse from the Book of Allah?" I said: The saying of Allah in this verse: "And you see many of them hastening into sin and aggression and the devouring of [what is] unlawful. How wretched is what they have been doing" (al-Ma'idah). He said: "O servant of Allah, the people presented the sword, and the sword stood between [them and] speech." I said: "O Abu Sa'id, do you recognize any merit for a speaker?" He said: "No." Al-Mu'alla said: Then he narrated two hadiths. He said: Abu Sa'id al-Khudri narrated to us from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) a hadith. He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Let not the awe of people prevent any of you from speaking the truth when he sees it, or from mentioning the greatness of Allah, for it neither brings near a term nor pushes away a provision." He said: Then al-Hasan narrated another hadith. He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "It is not for the believer to humiliate himself." It was said: "And what is his humiliating himself?" He said: "To expose himself to a trial he cannot bear." He said: "O Abu Sa'id, what about Yazid al-Dabbi and his speech during the prayer?" He said: "As for him, he did not leave the prison until he regretted it." Al-Mu'alla said: I stood up from the gathering of al-Hasan and came to Yazid. I said: "O Abu Mawdud, while I and al-Hasan were discussing, your affair was brought up." He said: "Be quiet, O Abu al-Hasan." I said: "I have already done so." He said: "What did al-Hasan say?" I said: "He said: 'As for him, he did not leave the prison until he regretted his statement.'" Yazid said: "I did not regret my statement, and by Allah, I stood in a position where I risked my own life." Yazid said: I came to al-Hasan and said: "O Abu Sa'id, we have been overcome in everything; shall we be overcome in our prayer?" He said: "O servant of Allah, you have done nothing. You are exposing yourself to them." Then I came to him, and he said to me the same as his statement. He said: I stood up on Friday in the mosque while al-Hakam ibn Ayyub was delivering the sermon, and I said: "May Allah have mercy on you, the prayer." He said: When I said that, men surrounded me, taking turns at me. They grabbed my beard and my collar and began to strike my stomach with the heels of their swords. He said: They took me toward the *maqsurah* (enclosure), and I did not reach it until I thought they would kill me before it. He said: The door of the *maqsurah* was opened for me. He said: I entered and stood before al-Hakam while he was silent. He said: "Are you mad?" He said: "And were we not in prayer?" I said: "May Allah rectify the Prince, is there any speech better than the Book of Allah?" He said: "No." I said: "May Allah rectify the Prince, have you considered if a man were to open a copy of the Quran and read it from morning until night, would that suffice him for his prayer?" He said: "By Allah, I think you are mad." He said: Anas ibn Malik was sitting under his pulpit, silent. I said: "O Anas, O Abu Hamzah, I adjure you by Allah, for you served the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and accompanied him, did I speak with good or with evil? Did I speak with truth or with falsehood?" He said: By Allah, he did not answer me with a single word. Al-Hakam ibn Ayyub said to him: "O Anas." He said: He said: "At your service, may Allah rectify you." He said: The time for prayer had passed. He said: There was a remainder of the sun left, so he said: "Imprison him." Yazid said: I swear to you, O Abu al-Hasan—meaning to al-Mu'alla—that what I encountered from my companions was harder on me than my standing. Some of them said: "He is a show-off," and some said: "He is mad." He said: Al-Hakam wrote to al-Hajjaj that a man from Banu Dabba stood up on Friday and said: "The prayer," while I was delivering the sermon, and that the just witnesses have testified to me that he is mad. Al-Hajjaj wrote back to him: "If the just witnesses have testified that he is mad, then let him go; otherwise, cut off his hands and his feet, put out his eyes, and crucify him." He said: So they testified before al-Hakam that I was mad, and he let me go. Al-Mu'alla said, regarding Yazid al-Dabbi: A brother of ours died, so we followed his funeral and prayed over him. When he was buried, I stepped aside with a group, and we remembered Allah and remembered our return. While we were like that, we saw the forelocks of horses and spears. When my companions saw them, they stood up and left me alone. Al-Hakam came until he stood over me and said: "What were you doing?" I said: "May Allah rectify the Prince, a companion of ours died, so we prayed over him and he was buried, and we sat remembering our Lord, remembering our return, and remembering what he has come to." He said: "What prevented you from fleeing as they fled?" I said: "May Allah rectify the Prince, I am more innocent of that and safer for the Prince than to flee." He said: Al-Hakam remained silent. 'Abd al-Malik ibn al-Muhallab, who was in charge of his police, said: "Do you know who this is?" He said: "Who is this?" He said: "This is the speaker on Friday." He said: Al-Hakam became angry and said: "You are indeed bold! Take him." He said: I was taken, and he struck me four hundred lashes. I did not know when he stopped, due to the severity of his striking me. He said: He sent me to Wasit, and I remained in the dungeon of al-Hajjaj until al-Hajjaj died.