The Messenger of Allah ﷺ visited Saad bin Zurara, who was suffering from an ailment called dhabhah, a throat inflammation. He cauterized him on the neck twice, but he died.The Prophet ﷺ said, "What an unfortunate death for the Jews to comment on. They will say, 'His companion treated him, yet he could not benefit him.'"
دخل رسول الله ﷺ على أسعد بن زرارة، وبه وجع يقال له: الشوكة، فكواه حوران على عنقه، فمات فقال النبي ﷺ: بئس الميت لليهود يقولون: قد داواه صاحبه أفلا نفعه.
Abdul-Razzaq (19515) narrated it from Mamar, from Zuhri, from Abu Umama, as mentioned. It is mursal. Ahmad (17238) narrated it by another route from Ibn Shihab Zuhri, that Abu Umama bin Sahl bin Hunayf informed him, from Abu Umama Asaad bin Zurara, who was one of the leaders on the day of Aqaba, that a thorn afflicted him, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to visit him and said, "What a wretched death by the Jews," twice. "They will say, 'Why did he not ward it off from his companion,' yet I have no power to bring him harm or benefit, and he will surely not be treated." So he ordered it, and he was cauterized with two lines above his head, and he died. In its chain is Zama bin Salih, who said, I heard Ibn Shihab, and mentioned it. Zama is daif. Abu Umama is Asaad bin Sahl bin Hunayf, who had a sighting of the Prophet but did not hear from him, so this is a mursal report from a companion, which is a valid proof according to the majority of scholars, and this mursal report is strengthened by the hadith of Ayesha.As for what Tirmidhi (2050), Ibn Hibban (6080), and Hakim (3/187) all narrated from the hadith of Yazid bin Zuray, who said, Mamar narrated to us, from Zuhri, from Anas, that the Prophet ﷺ cauterized Asaad bin Zurara for the thorn, this is a mistake. Mamar erred in it, as Abu Hatim pointed out in al-Ilal (2277), "Rather it is from Zuhri, from Abu Umama bin Sahl, that the Prophet ﷺ cauterized Asaad, mursal." And it is as he said, as has already been shown.The details of this are as Ibn Asakir mentioned in Tarikh Dimashq (59/392), by way of Abbas bin Yazid Bahrani, from Yazid bin Zuray, from Mamar, from Zuhri, from Anas. Abbas said, This is one of the things in which Mamar erred in Basra, because he did not have his book with him at the time, so he erred in this. Abdul-Razzaq said, When he came to us, he said, "I made a mistake in Basra regarding two hadiths I narrated from Zuhri, from Anas, that the Prophet ﷺ cauterized Asaad bin Zurara. Rather, Zuhri narrated to us from Abu Umama bin Sahl, mursal."