حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو سَعِيدٍ مَوْلَى بَنِي هَاشِمٍ حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ الْعَبْدِيُّ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كَثِيرٍ مَوْلَى الْأَنْصَارِ قَالَ كُنْتُ مَعَ سَيِّدِي عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ حَيْثُ قُتِلَ أَهْلُ النَّهْرَوَانِ فَكَأَنَّ النَّاسَ وَجَدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ مِنْ قَتْلِهِمْ فَقَالَ عَلِيٌّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَدْ حَدَّثَنَا بِأَقْوَامٍ يَمْرُقُونَ مِنْ الدِّينِ كَمَا يَمْرُقُ السَّهْمُ مِنْ الرَّمِيَّةِ ثُمَّ لَا يَرْجِعُونَ فِيهِ أَبَدًا حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ السَّهْمُ عَلَى فُوقِهِ وَإِنَّ آيَةَ ذَلِكَ أَنَّ فِيهِمْ رَجُلًا أَسْوَدَ مُخْدَجَ الْيَدِ إِحْدَى يَدَيْهِ كَثَدْيِ الْمَرْأَةِ لَهَا حَلَمَةٌ كَحَلَمَةِ ثَدْيِ الْمَرْأَةِ حَوْلَهُ سَبْعُ هُلْبَاتٍ فَالْتَمِسُوهُ فَإِنِّي أُرَاهُ فِيهِمْ فَالْتَمَسُوهُ فَوَجَدُوهُ إِلَى شَفِيرِ النَّهَرِ تَحْتَ الْقَتْلَى فَأَخْرَجُوهُ فَكَبَّرَ عَلِيٌّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ فَقَالَ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ صَدَقَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَإِنَّهُ لَمُتَقَلِّدٌ قَوْسًا لَهُ عَرَبِيَّةً فَأَخَذَهَا بِيَدِهِ فَجَعَلَ يَطْعَنُ بِهَا فِي مُخْدَجَتِهِ وَيَقُولُ صَدَقَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَكَبَّرَ النَّاسُ حِينَ رَأَوْهُ وَاسْتَبْشَرُوا وَذَهَبَ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَجِدُونَ
مسند امام احمد بن حنبل · Hadith 672
Abu Katheer, the freed slave of the Ansar, narrated: I was with my master 'Ali bin Abi Talib (RA) when the people of an-Nahrawan were killed, and it was as if the people were upset about their being killed. 'Ali (RA) said: O people, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) told us about people who would pass out of the faith like the arrow passes through the prey, then they will never come back to it until the arrow comes back to the string of the bow. And the sign of that is that there would be a black man among them who had a deformed arm: one of his arms would be like the breast of a woman, with a nipple like the nipple on a woman's breast, around which are seven coarse hairs. Look for him, for I think he must be among them. So they looked for him and they found him on the bank of the river, lying beneath the slain. They brought him out and 'Ali (RA) said: Allah Akbarl Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth. I fe was holding an Arabian bow of his; he took it in his hand and started poking the man's deformity with it and said: Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth. The people said Allah Akbar when they saw that and they rejoiced and no longer felt upset.
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020