Ali sent for Muhammad bin Maslama, and he was brought before him.Ali asked, "What kept you from joining this matter?"He replied, "Your cousin," meaning the Prophet ﷺ, "handed me a sword and said, 'Fight with it as long as the enemy is being fought. But when you see people killing one another, take it to a rock and strike it against it, then stay in your house until a decreed death comes to you or a wrongful hand reaches you.'"Ali said, "Let him go."
حدثنا زيد بن الحباب قال أخبرني سهل بن أبي الصلت قال سمعت
إن عليا بعث إلى محمد بن مسلمة فجيء به فقال ما خلفك عن هذا الأمر قال دفع إلي ابن عمك يعني النبي ﷺ سيفا فقال قاتل به ما قوتل العدو فإذا رأيت الناس يقتل بعضهم بعضا فاعمد به إلى صخرة فاضربه بها ثم الزم بيتك حتى تأتيك منية قاضية أو يد خاطئة قال خلوا عنه
No references are available.
Its isnad is hasan, on account of Sahl bin Abu Salt, concerning whom scholars differed. More than one declared him trustworthy, while Ibn Qattan deemed him daif. The hadith was mentioned earlier in full at 15972, and it appears in Tabarani, 19/235, no. 523, and in similar wording in Ibn Majah, 2/1310, no. 3962.