Sunan Abi Dawud 4656

Hafs ibn Umar Abu Umar al-Darir narrated to us; Hammad ibn Salamah narrated to us, and Sa‘id ibn Iyas al-Jurayri informed them, from Abdullah ibn Shaqiq al-Uqayli, from al-Aqra, Umar ibn al-Khattab’s muezzin, who said: Umar sent me to the bishop, so I summoned him. Umar asked him, ‘Do you find me in Scripture?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ Umar asked, ‘How do you find me?’ He said, ‘I find you a qarn.’ Umar raised his whip toward him and said, ‘A qarn? What do you mean?’ He said, ‘An iron qarn: trustworthy and strong.’ Umar asked, ‘How do you find the one who comes after me?’ He said, ‘I find him a righteous caliph, except that he favors his relatives.’ Umar said three times, ‘May Allah have mercy on Uthman!’ Then he asked, ‘How do you find the one after him?’ He said, ‘I find him rusty iron.’ Umar put his hand on his head and said, ‘O foul one! O foul one!’ The bishop said, ‘Commander of the Faithful, he is a righteous caliph, but he will be made caliph when the sword is drawn and blood is spilled.’ Abu Dawud said: Al-dafr means foulness or a bad smell.