[Machine] We were sitting one night with Abdullah and he was reciting the Quran to us. A man asked him, "O Abu Abdur Rahman, did you ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ how many caliphs this Ummah will have?" Abdullah replied, "No one has asked me about this since I came to Iraq before you." He said, "We asked him and he said, 'The caliphs of the Children of Israel were twelve in number.'" I cannot tolerate discussing the narration from Mujalid and his contemporaries in this book; may Allah have mercy on them. Adh-Dhahabi remained silent about it in the summary.
كُنَّا جُلُوسًا لَيْلَةً عِنْدَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ يُقْرِئُنَا الْقُرْآنَ فَسَأَلَهُ رَجُلٌ فَقَالَ يَا أَبَا عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ هَلْ سَأَلْتُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ كَمْ يَمْلِكُ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةَ مِنْ خَلِيفَةٍ؟ فَقَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ مَا سَأَلَنِي عَنْ هَذَا أَحَدٌ مُنْذُ قَدِمْتُ الْعِرَاقَ قَبْلَكَ قَالَ سَأَلْنَاهُ فَقَالَ «اثْنَا عَشَرَ عِدَّةَ نُقَبَاءِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ» لَا يَسَعُنِي التَّسَامُحُ فِي هَذَا الْكِتَابِ عَنِ الرِّوَايَةِ عَنْ مُجَالِدٍ وَأَقْرَانِهِ رَحِمَهُمُ اللَّهُ سكت عنه الذهبي في التلخيص