Nahj al-Balāgha

٣١١. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام) لِأَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، وَقَدْ كَانَ بَعَثَهُ إِلَى طَلْحَةَ وَالزُّبَيْرِ لَمَّا جَاءَ إِلَى الْبَصْرَةِ يُذَكِّرُهُمَا شَيْئاً مِمَّا سَمِعَهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ (صلى الله عليه وآله) فِي مَعْنَاهُمَا، فَلَوَى عَنْ ذَلِكَ، فَرَجَعَ إِلَيْهِ، فَقَالَ إِنِّي أُنْسِيتُ ذَلِكَ الْأَمْرَ.

311. When Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, came to Baṣrah he sent Anas ibn Mālik to Ṭalḥah and az-Zubayr to make them recall what he (Anas) himself had heard the Messenger of Allāh, peace be upon him and his descendants, say concerning them both, but he avoided doing so and when he came back to Amīr al-mu’minīn, he said that he had forgotten that matter.

فَقال (عليه السلام): إِنْ كُنْتَ كَاذِباً فَضَرَبَكَ اللهُ بِهَا بَيْضَاءَ لَامِعَةً لَا تُوَارِيهَا الْعِمَامَةُ.

Thereupon, Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, said: If you are speaking a lie Allāh may afflict you with white spots (leucoderma) which even the turban may not cover.

قال السيد الرضى: يعني البرص، فأصاب أَنَساً هذا الداء فيما بعدُ في وجهه، فكان لا يُرى إلاّ مُبَرقعاً.

as-Sayyid ar-Raḍī says: White spot means leucoderma. After sometime this disease did occur to Anas’s face so much so that he was never seen without a veil. [1]