One day, al-Hajjaj ibn Yousuf ath-Thaqafi ( 3 ) said that he would like to arrest one of the companions of Abu Turab ( 4 ) so that he would seek nearness to God through shedding his blood! The attendants said, ‘As much as we know, Qanbar the servant had spent th e longest period with Abu Turab.’ Hence, al-Hajjaj ordered to arrest Qanbar.
When Qanbar was brought before him, al-Hajjaj asked: “Are you Qanbar?”
He answered: “Yes, it is I.”
Al-Hajjaj asked: “Are you called Abu Hamdan?”
He answered: “Yes, I am.”
Al-Hajjaj asked: “Ali ibn Abi Talib was your master, was he not?”
Qanbar answered: “God is my Master and Ali was my benefactor.”
Al-Hajjaj then asked Qanbar to declare his disavowal of the religion of Imam Ali (a), but Qanbar asked: “If I do, will you find me a religion better than his?”
Out of his anger, al-Hajjaj told Qanbar that he would kill him and that he might choose the kind of killing that he would inevitably encounter. Qanbar said: “I give you this right of choice. You should choose for me.”
Al-Hajjaj wondered: “Why is that?”
Qanbar answered: “That is because I will certainly kill you in the same way you are going to kill me. Amir ul-Mu’minin foretold me that I will be slain wrongfully.”
Hence, al-Hajjaj ordered to slay him. ( Bihar ul-Anwar; vol. 9 page 630 )