The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said during his illness, "I wish one of my companions were here with me."We asked, "Messenger of Allah, shall we call Abu Bakr for you?" He remained silent.We asked, "Shall we call Umar for you?" He remained silent.We asked, "Shall we call Uthman for you?" He said, "Yes."So Uthman came, and the Prophet ﷺ spoke with him privately. The Prophet ﷺ began speaking to him while Uthman's face kept changing color.Qays said, Abu Sahla, the freed slave of Uthman, told me that Uthman bin Affan said on the day of the siege of his house, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entrusted me with a covenant, and I will fulfill it." In Ali's version of the narration, "and I will be patient with it."Qays said, "They believed that day was the day he was referring to."
حدثنا محمد بن عبد الله بن نمير وعلي بن محمد قالا حدثنا وكيع حدثنا إسمعيل بن أبي خالد عن قيس بن أبي حازم
قال رسول الله ﷺ في مرضه وددت أن عندي بعض أصحابي قلنا يا رسول الله ألا ندعو لك أبا بكر فسكت قلنا ألا ندعو لك عمر فسكت قلنا ألا ندعو لك عثمان قال نعم فجاء فخلا به فجعل النبي ﷺ يكلمه ووجه عثمان يتغير قال قيس فحدثني أبو سهلة مولى عثمان أن عثمان بن عفان قال يوم الدار إن رسول الله ﷺ عهد إلي عهدا فأنا صائر إليه وقال علي في حديثه وأنا صابر عليه قال قيس فكانوا يرونه ذلك اليوم
[Sahih] Ahmad narrated it, 6/214, from Waki with this chain, and Tirmidhi, 3711, in shortened form, saying, hasan sahih gharib. Ismail explicitly stated that he heard it directly, as recorded by Ibn Abu Shayba, though with some variation regarding this.