English Translation

Yahya b. Sa'id told us: Qurra b. Khalid told us: Humayd b. Hilal told us: Abu Burda told us, who said: Abu Musa al-Ash'ari said: I came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with two men from the Ash'aris, one on my right and the other on my left, and both of them asked for a position of authority, while the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was using a tooth-stick. He said, "What do you say, O Abu Musa," or "O Abdullah b. Qays?" I said, "By the One who sent you with the truth, they did not inform me of what was in their minds, and I did not know they were seeking a position." He said: It was as if I could see his tooth-stick curling up under his lip. He said, "We do not appoint to our positions one who seeks it. Rather, go, O Abu Musa," or "O Abdullah b. Qays." So he sent him to Yemen, then sent Mu'adh b. Jabal after him. When he arrived, he said, "Sit down," and threw him a cushion. There was a man bound before him, so he said, "What is this?" He said, "He was a Jew who accepted Islam, then reverted to his evil religion and became a Jew again." He said, "I will not sit down until he is killed - the judgment of Allah and His Messenger" - three times - so he ordered him and he was killed. Then they discussed the night prayer, and Mu'adh b. Jabal said, "As for me, I sleep and I rise," or "I rise and I sleep, and I hope for reward in my sleeping just as I hope for it in my rising."