[Machine] We were sitting with Abdullah bin Mas'ood when a man asked him, "O Abu Abdullah, did you ask your prophet ﷺ how many caliphs would this ummah have?" Ibn Mas'ood replied, "No one has asked me about it since I arrived in Iraq before you did. We asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he said, 'The caliphs of the Children of Israel were twelve in number.'" The wording is from a narration by Hujjaj.
كُنَّا جُلُوسًا عِنْدَ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ فَسَأَلَهُ رَجُلٌ يَا أَبَا عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ هَلْ سَأَلْتُمْ نَبِيَّكُمْ ﷺ كَمْ يَمْلِكُ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةَ مِنْ خَلِيفَةٍ؟ فَقَالَ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ مَا سَأَلَنِي عَنْهَا أَحَدٌ مُنْذُ قَدِمْتُ الْعِرَاقَ قَبْلَكَ سَأَلْنَا رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ فَقَالَ «اثْنَا عَشَرَ عِدَّةُ نُقَبَاءِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ» وَاللَّفْظُ لِحَدِيثِ حَجَّاجٍ