Ali bin Abu Talib sent to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from Yemen a piece of gold still mixed with its earth, wrapped in tanned leather. The Prophet ﷺ divided it among four men: Uyayna bin Badr, Aqra bin Habis, Zayd al-Khayl, and the fourth was either Alqama or Amir bin Tufayl.A man from among his companions said, "We had more right to this than these men."Word of this reached the Prophet ﷺ, so he said, "Will you not trust me, when I am the trusted one of Him who is in the heavens? News from heaven comes to me morning and evening."Then a man stood up. He had sunken eyes, prominent cheekbones, a protruding forehead, a thick beard, a shaved head, and his lower garment hitched up. He said, "Messenger of Allah, fear Allah."The Prophet replied, "Woe to you. Am I not the most deserving of all people on earth to fear Allah?"Then the man turned away.Khalid bin Walid said, "Messenger of Allah, shall I not strike off his neck?"He said, "No, perhaps he prays."Khalid said, "How many a one who prays says with his tongue what is not in his heart!"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "I have not been commanded to bore into people's hearts, nor to split open their bellies."Then he looked at the man as he was walking away and said, "From the offspring of this one will come a people who recite the Book of Allah fluently, but it will not pass beyond their throats. They will pass through the religion as an arrow passes through its prey."And I think he said, "If I were to reach them, I would slaughter them as Thamud was slaughtered."
بعث علي بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه إلى رسول الله ﷺ من اليمن بذهبة في أديم مقروط لم تحصل من ترابها، قال فقسمها بين أربعة نفر: بين عيينة بن بدر، وأقرع بن حابس، وزيد الخيل والرابع إما علقمة وإما عامر بن الطفيل فقال رجل من أصحابه: كنا نحن أحق بهذا من هؤلاء. قال: فبلغ ذلك النبي ﷺ فقال: ألا تأمنوني وأنا أمين من في السماء، يأتيني خبر السماء صباحا ومساء. قال: فقام رجل غائر العينين مشرف الوجنتين ناشن الجبهة كث اللحية محلوق الرأس مشمر الإزار فقال: يا رسول الله اتق الله. قال: ويلك أولست أحق أهل الأرض أن يتقي الله. قال: ثم ولى الرجل، قال خالد بن الوليد: يا رسول الله ألا أضرب عنقه؟ قال: لا، لعله أن يكون يصلي. فقال خالد: وكم من مصل يقول بلسانه ما ليس في قلبه! قال رسول الله ﷺ: إني لم أومر أن أنقب عن قلوب الناس ولا أشق بطونهم. قال: ثم نظر إليه، وهو مقف فقال: إنه يخرج من ضضي هذا قوم يتلون كتاب الله رطبا لا يجاوز حناجرهم يمرقون من الدين كما يمرق السهم من الرمية. وأظنه قال: لئن أدركتهم لأقتلنهم قتل ثمود.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Military Expeditions (4351), and Muslim in the Book of Zakat (1064), both from Qutayba bin Saeed, who said, Abdul-Wahid narrated to us, from Umara bin Qaqa bin Shubruma, who said, Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Naim narrated to us, he said, I heard Abu Saeed Khudri say (and he mentioned it), and the wording is Bukhari's, while Muslim's wording is similar.