عَنْ شَرِيْكٍ قَالَ بَعَثَ اِلَيْنَا الْاَعْمَشُ وَ هُوَ شَدِيدُ الْمَرَضِ فَاَتَيْنَاهُ وَ قَدِ اجْتَمَعَ عِنْدَهٗ اَهْلُ الْكُوفَةِ وَ فِيهِمْ اَبُوْ حَنِيفَةَ وَ ابْنُ قَيْسٍ الْمَاصِرُ فَقَالَ لِابْنِهِ يَا بُنَيَّ اَجْلِسْنِي فَاَجْلَسَهُ فَقَالَ يَا اَهْلَ الْكُوفَةِ اِنَّ اَبَا حَنِيفَةَ وَ ابْنَ قَيْسٍ الْمَاصِرَ اَتَيَانِي فَقَالَا اِنَّكَ قَدْ حَدَّثْتَ فِيْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ اَبِي طَالِبٍؑ اَحَادِيثَ فَارْجِعْ عَنْهَا فَاِنَّ التَّوْبَةَ مَقْبُولَةٌ مَا دَامَتِ الرُّوحُ فِيْ الْبَدَنِ فَقُلْتُ لَهُمَا مِثْلُكُمَا يَقُولُ لِمِثْلِي هَذَا اُشْهِدُكُمْ يَا اَهْلَ الْكُوفَةِ فَاِنِّي فِيْ آخِرِ يَوْمٍ مِنْ اَيَّامِ الدُّنْيَا وَ اَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ مِنْ اَيَّامِ الْآخِرَةِ اِنِّي سَمِعْتُ عَطَاءَ بْنَ رَبَاحٍ يَقُولُ سَاَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ عَنْ قَوْلِ اللهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ اَلْقِيا فِيْ جَهَنَّمَ كُلَّ كَفَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ اَنَا وَ عَلِيٌّ نُلْقِي فِيْ جَهَنَّمَ كُلَّ مَنْ عَادَانَا فَقَالَ اَبُو حَنِيفَةَ لِابْنِ قَيْسٍ قُمْ بِنَا لَا يَجِيءُ بِمَا هُوَ اَعْظَمُ مِنْ هَذَا فَقَامَا وَ انْصَرَفَا
Shareek (a famous Sunni judge and scholar) reports, “Al-A’mash sent for us while he was very ill. We reached to him while the people of Kufa had gathered near him, among whom were Abu Hanifa and (Amr) Ibn Qais al-Maasir. He said to his son, ‘My son! Make me sit up’. He made him sit up. He said, ‘O People of Kufah! Surely, Abu Hanifah and Ibn Qais al-Maasir (who was a Batri) came to me and said, ‘You have narrated traditions concerning Ali Ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), turn away from them (i.e. refute them) because repentance is accepted only till the soul is inside the body (i.e. till a man is alive). So, I am saying to both of them, ‘Persons like you two are saying this to a person like me?’ I hold you as witnesses, O people of Kufah! I am in the last days of my worldly life and the first days of my life of the Hereafter. Verily, I heard Ataa Ibn Rabaah say, ‘I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) about the word of Allah – Mighty and Majestic be He – ‘Throw both of you in the hell every disbeliever, obstinate one’. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny), ‘I and Ali will throw in the hell whoever bears enmity against us.’ (On hearing this), Abu Hanifah said to Ibn Qais al-Maasir, ‘Get up. Let’s go. We cannot hear anything greater (worse) than this.’ Both of them got up and left.”
Notes:
1) Shareek, the narrator of this tradition, is a very famous Sunni judge.
2) A’mash is a title. It refers to some disease in the eye. The name of the person was Sulaiman Ibn Mehraan al-A’mash. Since he had this disease in the eye, he was given this title. He was not of Arab descent. Obviously, he did not belong to the high class of the Arabian society. He was among the Persians.
3) He was a great Shia scholar but is relied upon by the opponents as well.
4) He was called Asadi although he was not actually from Bani Asad. That is, all the Persian slaves were attributed to the tribes for which they worked despite not being of Arabian descent.
References:
1. Behaar al-Anwaar, vol. 24, p. 273, H. 58
2. Kanz-o-Jaame’ al-Fawaaed under the aforementioned verse