The Meaning of Those Who Gathered Around 'Abd Allah ibn Saba' from Among the Short-Sighted and the Lovers of Fitnah

Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, you mentioned, may Allah preserve you, in your book on the creed of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), which we study in the third year of secondary school under the section concerning the Companions, that those who gathered around 'Abd Allah ibn Saba' were those who were deceived by him from among the short-sighted, the weak in faith, and the lovers of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). This phrase has been unclear to us students, as well as to the teacher, and we are asking you about it. Who is meant by "short-sighted" and "lovers of fitnah"? Are they the Companions, or one of them? Or what is intended by that?

Answer:
The meaning is those who gathered around him. The statement is clear and does not need [further explanation]. Those who gathered around 'Abd Allah ibn Saba', even though he was a stranger and came from the land of the Jews in Yemen, gathered around him and took from him the cursing of 'Uthman. Is this short-sightedness? The one who accepts cursing of 'Uthman—is he one of complete sight or short-sighted?
This is short-sightedness and misguidance. The one who speaks about a Rightly Guided Caliph, the third of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, one of the foremost in Islam, speaks about him and they accept it. This is short-sightedness, rather, this is misguidance. Yes, and only Bedouins, young men, and villages where people are known to love fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) in Egypt gathered around him. Yes.