Had we known that Hasan's statement would have such far-reaching consequences, we would have written down his retraction and called witnesses to testify to it. But we thought it was just a passing remark of no real weight.
حدثنا ابن المثنى وابن بشار قالا حدثنا مؤمل بن إسمعيل حدثنا حماد بن زيد
لو علمنا أن كلمة الحسن تبلغ ما بلغت لكتبنا برجوعه كتابا وأشهدنا عليه شهودا ولكنا قلنا كلمة خرجت لا تحمل
No references are available.
[Hasan] * Muammal bin Ismail: his hadith from Thawri is sahih, and his hadith from others is hasan. The majority of scholars deemed him trustworthy, and his hadith has corroborating evidence in meaning.