Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 12364

Al-Hasan al-Basri narrates: Sayyiduna al-Dahhak bin Qays (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote a letter to Qays bin al-Haytham on the death of Yazid bin Mu'awiyah: "Peace be upon you! To proceed: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'Before the Hour there will be trials like pieces of the dark night, and some trials will be like pieces of smoke; in them a man's heart will die just as a man's body dies; in them a man will be a believer in the morning and will have become a disbeliever by the evening, or he will be a believer in the evening and will have become a disbeliever by the morning; people will sell their share and their religion in exchange for worldly goods.' Yazid bin Mu'awiyah has died, and you are our brothers and our companions, so do not get ahead of us (in choosing the next caliph) until we choose (a new caliph) for ourselves."
Ahmad and al-Tabarani recorded it through different routes, which contain the narrator Ali bin Zayd, who had a poor memory, though he has been declared trustworthy; the rest of Ahmad's narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.