Ali bin Zayd narrates: I was with al-Hajjaj in the palace while he was punishing people on account of Ibn al-Ash'ath. Meanwhile Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) came and drew near. Al-Hajjaj said to him: "Come forward, O wicked one! O you who roam about in tribulations — sometimes with Ali bin Abi Talib, sometimes with Ibn al-Zubayr, sometimes with Ibn al-Ash'ath! By the One in whose hand is my soul, I will uproot you as a boil is uprooted, and I will tear you apart as a lizard is torn apart." Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "May Allah Almighty keep the Amir well! Whom does he mean?" Al-Hajjaj said: "I mean you! May Allah Almighty make your hearing deaf!" So he recited: Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un (We belong to Allah and to Him we return), and then got up and left him. Later he said: "Had it not been for the thought of my children and my fear for them, I would have stood in that place and spoken such words that he would never have been able to answer me after them."
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its narrator Ali bin Zayd is da'if (weak), though he has been declared trustworthy.
Hadith Referenceمجمع الزوائد ومنبع الفوائد / كتاب الفتن - أعاذنا الله منها / 12168
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:إسنادہ ضعیف
Hadith Takhrij«اخرجه الطبراني فى المعجم الكبير (704)»