Salim bin Abdullah narrated, and I only know it as something he reports from Ibn Umar, that Zayd bin Amr bin Nufayl set out for Syria seeking the true religion and following its trail. He met a Jewish scholar and questioned him about their religion, until he said, "Perhaps I will embrace your religion, so tell me about it."The scholar replied, "You cannot follow our religion unless you take your share of Allah's wrath."Zayd said, "It is from Allah's wrath that I am fleeing. I will never carry any of Allah's wrath, and how could I bear it? Can you direct me to something else?"He answered, "I know of nothing except that you become a Hanif."Zayd asked, "And what is a Hanif?"He said, "The religion of Ibrahim. He was neither a Jew nor a Christian, and he worshipped none but Allah."So Zayd went out and met a Christian scholar, and mentioned the same thing to him. The scholar said, "You will not be upon our religion until you take your share of Allah's curse."Zayd said, "It is from Allah's curse that I am fleeing. I will never carry any of Allah's curse or His wrath, and how could I bear it? Can you direct me to something else?"He answered, "I know of nothing except that you become a Hanif."Zayd asked, "And what is a Hanif?"He said, "The religion of Ibrahim. He was neither a Jew nor a Christian, and he worshipped none but Allah."When Zayd heard what they said about Ibrahim , he departed, and once he was out in the open he raised his hands and said, "O Allah, I bear witness that I am upon the religion of Ibrahim."
حدثني سالم بن عبد الله، ولا أعلمه إلا يحدث به عن ابن عمر: إن زيد بن عمرو بن نفيل خرج إلى الشام يسأل عن الدين ويتبعه، فلقي عالما من اليهود فسأله عن دينهم، حتى فقال: إني لعلي أن أدين دينكم فأخبرني، فقال: لا تكون على ديننا، تأخذ بنصيبك من غضب الله، قال زيد: ما أفر إلا من غضب الله، ولا أحمل من غضب الله شيئا أبدا، وأنى أستطيعه؟ فهل تدلني على غيره؟ قال: ما أعلمه إلا أن يكون حنيفا، قال زيد: وما الحنيف؟ قال: دين إبراهيم، لم يكن يهوديا ولا نصرانيا ولا يعبد إلا الله، فخرج زيد فلقي عالما من النصارى فذكر مثله، فقال: لن تكون على ديننا حتى تأخذ بنصيبك من لعنة الله، قال: ما أفر إلا من لعنة الله، ولا أحمل من لعنة الله، ولا من غضبه شيئا أبدا، وأنى أستطيع، فهل تدلني على غيره؟ قال: ما أعلمه إلا أن يكون حنيفا، قال: وما الحنيف؟ قال: دين إبراهيم لم يكن يهوديا ولا نصرانيا، ولا يعبد إلا الله، فلما رأى زيد قولهم في إبراهيم عليه السلام خرج، فلما برز رفع يديه، فقال: اللهم إني أشهد أني على دين إبراهيم.
Bukhari narrated it in the chapter on the virtues of the Ansar (3827), where he said, Musa said, "Salim narrated to me..." then he mentioned it.This chain is connected to the one before it, which is what he narrated from Muhammad bin Abu Bakr, who said, "Fudayl bin Sulayman narrated to us, Musa narrated to us, Salim bin Abdullah narrated to us..."This is what the compilers of the atraf works have affirmed, and Musa here is Ibn Uqba, the well-known author of Maghazi.