We were with the Messenger of Allah on a military expedition when we caught some lizards. I roasted one of them and brought it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, placing it before him. He picked up a stick and counted its toes with it, then said, "A nation from the Children of Israil was transformed into creatures of the earth, and I do not know which creatures they became."He neither ate from it nor forbade it.
كنا مع رسول الله في جيش، فأصبنا ضبابا، قال: فشويت منها ضبا، فأتيت رسول الله ﷺ فوضعته بين يديه، قال: فأخذ عودا فعد به أصابعه ثم قال: إن أمة من بني إسرائيل مسخت دواب في الأرض، وإني لا أدري أي الدواب هي؟ قال: فلم يأكل ولم ينه.
Reported by Abu Dawud (3795), Nasai (4320), Ibn Majah (3238), and Ahmad (17931) through various routes from Husayn, from Zayd bin Wahb Juhani, from Thabit bin Yazid bin Wadiah Ansari, who mentioned it.Its chain of transmission is sahih. Husayn here is Ibn Abdul-Rahman Sulami, and Zayd bin Wahb Juhani was a mukhadram, a trustworthy and eminent narrator.