Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 39800 — Reports on the death of the Prophet

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him): I was in Yemen when I met two men of the people of Yemen named Dhu Kala' and Dhu Amr. I began telling them about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and they both said: "If what you are saying is true, then this companion of yours (peace and blessings be upon him) completed his term of life three days ago." So I set out and they set out too, until when we had covered part of the way, a party of riders was coming towards us from the direction of Madinah. We asked them and they replied: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has passed away, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) has been appointed caliph, and the people are in a good state." The narrator says: Then the two of them said to me: "Tell your companion (Sayyiduna Abu Bakr) that we came, and perhaps we shall return, if Allah wills." And (then) the two of them went back to Yemen. The narrator says: I told Sayyiduna Abu Bakr what they had said, and he said: "Why did you not bring them?" The narrator says: Then after that Dhu Amr said to me: "O Jarir! You have an honour over me, and I am telling you something. You Arabs will always remain in a state of goodness so long as, when (your) leader dies, you accept another as leader. But when the sword comes, then (your leaders) will be kings, whose anger will be the anger of kings and whose pleasure will be like the pleasure of kings."