We said to az-Zubair (رضي الله عنه): “O Abu `Abdullah, what brought you here? You let the caliph down until he was killed, then you came seeking vengeance for him?” Az-Zubair (رضي الله عنه) said: “At the time of the Prophet (ﷺ), Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman and me, we read the verse: “And fear the Fitnah (affliction and trial) which affects not in particular (only those) of you who do wrong (but it may afflict all the good and the bad people).” . But we never knew that it referred to us until the turmoil befell us.”
Narrated It was narrated that az-Zubair (رضي الله عنه) said:
We came from Liyyah with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and when we reached Sidrah, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood at one side of Qarnul-Aswad, facing it, then he turned his gaze towards Nakhibah (i.e., a valley) and he waited until all the people had stopped too. Then he said: `Hunting in Wajj and cutting down its plants is haram; it is sacred to Allah.” That was before he came to at-Ta`if and besieged Thaqeef.
Narrated It was narrated from `Amir bin `Abdullah bin az-Zubair that his father said:
I said to az-Zubair (رضي الله عنه): “Why don`t I hear you narrating from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as I hear Ibn Mas`ood and so and so, and so and so?” He said: “I never left him since I became Muslim, but I heard something from him: `Whoever tells a lie about me deliberately, let him take his place in Hell.””