What appeared regarding Ishaq al-Nakha’i and al-Shuray’i — may God curse them both
(627) Regarding what appeared concerning Ishaq al-Nakha’i and al-Shuray’i — may God curse them both — from my sheikh — may God be pleased with him: Asad ibn al-Haytham narrated to us, saying: Sheikh Abu Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn Hamdan al-Khasibi — may God brighten his face — narrated to me, saying: Askar ibn Muhammad al-Farisi narrated to me, saying: "I entered upon my Master al-Askari — exalted be his glory — and suddenly Ishaq ibn Muhammad ibn Abban al-Nakha’i was sitting on the Master's right, and al-Shuray’i was on His left. I said to myself: 'By God, these two could not desire a virtue greater than this sitting [proximity].' The Master raised His gaze, knowing what was in my soul, and said: 'O Askar, recite: {So what is [the matter] with those who disbelieve, before you, hastening, ❁ From the right and from the left, in separate groups? ❁ Does every person among them hope to be admitted into a garden of pleasure? ❁ No! Indeed, We have created them from that which they know}1.'"
(628) From him, he said: Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Salman al-Najjadi narrated to us, saying: Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Ruzubari narrated to us, saying: Hilal ibn al-Ala al-Riqqi narrated to us, raising the tradition to Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud, who said: I asked our Master Amir Almuminin — exalted be his glory — regarding the words of God the Almighty: {And those who disbelieved will say, "Our Lord, show us those two who misled us of the jinn and men [so] we may put them under our feet that they will be among the lowest"}2. He replied: "They are the First and the Second."