Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 3616 — I accompanied the people of the Nahr

A man from Abd al-Qays, who used to sit with us in the Jami' Mosque, narrated: I accompanied the people of the Nahr (river) and was among them; then I came to dislike their affair and feared that they might kill me. While I was with a group of them, we came upon a village, and between us and the village there was a river, when a man came out of the village in a state of fear. They said to him: It seems we have frightened you? He said: Yes. They said: You have nothing to fear. I said (to myself): By Allah! They know him and I do not know him. Then they said to him: Are you the son of Khabbab (may Allah be pleased with him), the Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? He said: Yes. They said: Have you heard from your father any hadith that you can narrate to us from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? He said: Yes, I heard my father narrate from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he mentioned a tribulation and said: "The one sitting in it is better than the one standing, the one standing is better than the one walking, and the one walking is better than the one running. If it reaches you, then be the slain servant of Allah." The narrator said: They took him to the bank of the river and slaughtered him, and I saw his blood flowing in the water like a sandal strap, without dispersing. The narrator said: Then they seized his umm walad (slave mother of his child) and killed her; she was pregnant, so they ripped open her belly. I never found the company of any people more hateful to me than theirs, until I found a moment alone and escaped.