Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Ka'b bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from his paternal uncle that Ka'b bin al-Ashraf used to compose satire against the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) to send five men to him. They came to him while he was sitting in a gathering of his people in the outlying area (al-Awali). When he saw them he became alarmed about them. He asked: "What has brought you?" They said: "We have come to you because of a need." He said: "Let one of you come close to me and talk to me about his need." One of them came close to him, and they made it appear: "We have come to you so that we may sell you our coats of mail." He said: "By Allah, if you want to do this, then the fact is that ever since this man came among you, you have been suffering continuous hardship" (the narrator is in doubt about one word here). Then they made an appointment with him that they would come to him after night had fallen. When they came to him, he got up to go out to them. His wife said to him: "These people will not have come to you at this hour for anything that you would like." He said: "They have already told me about their need." When he came close to them, Sayyiduna Abu Abs (may Allah be pleased with him) seized him by the neck, and Sayyiduna Muhammad bin Maslamah (may Allah be pleased with him) struck him with the sword. They struck him in his flank with the sword and killed him. In the morning the Jews came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned to those Jews that he used to satirise the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his poems and used to cause harm to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) invited the Jews to have a treaty written between himself and them. The narrator says: That document was with Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).
Ahmad recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.