حدثنا محمد بن بشار، حدثنا صفوان بن عيسى، حدثنا محمد بن عمرو بن عيسى أبو نعامة العدوي، قال: سمعت خَالِدِ بْنِ عُمَيْرٍ، وشويسًا
أبا الرقاد قالا: بعث عمر بن الخطاب عُتْبَةُ بْنُ غَزْوَانَ وقَالَ انطلق أنت ومن معك، حتى إذا كنتم في أقصى أرض العرب، وأدنى بلاد أرض العجم، فأقبلوا حتى إذا كانوا بالمربد وجدوا هذا المكان، فقالوا: ما هذه؟ هذه البصرة. فسارواحتى إذا بلغوا حيال الجسر الصغير، فقالوا: هاهنا أمرتم، فنزلوا فذكروا الحديث بطوله
“Umar ibn al-Khattab dispatched Utba ibn Ghazwan, and he said: ‘Go away, you and whoever is with you, until you reach the most remote countries of the Arabs and the nearest countries of the non-Arabs!’ They therefore advanced until, when they reached al-Mirbad, they found this soft stone-like clay, so they said: ‘What is this?’
They were told: ‘This is Basra,’ so they traveled until they were in the vicinity of the small bridge. They said: ‘Here is our appointed destination,’ so they alighted and related the story from beginning to end.
Utba ibn Ghazwan said: ‘I found myself the seventh of seven with the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). We ate nothing but tree-leaves until the corners of our mouths were covered with ulcers, so I picked up a garment which I divided between me and Sad, for there was not one of us among those seven who was not the governor of a city, and you will put the governors to the test after us.’”