Hadith record

4. A number of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from al-Barqi from Ahmad ibn Zayd al-Naysaburi who has said that narrated to me ‘Umar ibn Ibrahim al-Hashimi from ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umar from ’Asid ibn Safwan the companion of the Messenger of Allah who has said the following. “On the day that Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.) passed away the place shook as people wept and cried and they were frightened like al-Thaqafi day the Holy Prophet (s.a) passed away. A man came weeping who seemed in a hurry and saying the words of the Holy Quran, “We are the servants of God and to Him we shall all return.” (2:156) He continued, “Today the government as succession of that of the Holy Prophet (s.a) is discontinued.” He stood at the door of the house in which Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.) was and said, “May Allah grant you blessing, O abu al-Hassan. You were the first in the nation who accepted Islam and were of the purest faith among them. You were of the most solid certainty and feared Allah the most among them. The degree of your hard work (for the cause of Allah) was the greatest and you were the most cautious in protecting the Messenger of Allah among them. You were the most trusted in the affairs of his companions and of the most distinguished in excellence, of the most honorable past credentials, of the highest degree of virtue and the closest as relatives to the Messenger of Allah among them. You were the most similar among them to him (the Messenger of Allah) in the matters of providing guidance, moral discipline, mannerism and deeds. You were the most precious to him (the Messenger of Allah) among them, in value and the most honorable to him among them. May Allah grant you good rewards on behalf of Islam, His Messenger and the Muslims. You exercised strength when his (the Messenger of Allah’s) companions became weak. You would come out (to face the enemy) when they showed humiliation, you rose up whenever showed laziness. You maintained steadfastness in adherence to the system of the Messenger of Allah whenever his companions attended othewise. You, indeed, were his undisputed successor and you did not cause strife 9in the community) despite the mischief of the hypocrites, of the anger of the unbelievers, the dislike of the jealous ones, and lowliness of the transgressors. You stood firm for the truth when they failed, spoke clearly when they became speechless, marched forwards in the light of Allah and they halted and if they followed you they found the right guidance. You were the softest in tone and of the highest degree of prayer among them, of the smallest amount of speech and of the most correct and valid statements. You were of the greatest ideas, of the bravest heart, of the most solid certainty, of the best of deeds and the most knowledgeable of the issues among them. You, by Allah, were the lead figure in religion at first and at last. You were the first when people digressed in chaos and the last when they failed. Your as a kind father to the believers as they become dependent up on you and you bore such burdens that others felt much weak to carry. Your protected what they had lost and guarded what they had ignored. You tightened your belt when they accumulated (wealth with greed), you rose high when they despaired (in humiliation). You exercised patience when they rushed and you achieved what they had never dreamed to achieve and through you they gained what they had never expected to gain. You were as pouring calamity and disaster up on the unbelievers and the fortress and support for the believers. You were invented for the task of Leadership with Divine Authority with its blessing and you succeeded to achieve its awards, established its prerequisite and left with its distinctions. Your evidence in support your divine Authority never last its sharp edge and your heart never wavered, your intelligence never weakened, your soul did not falter or become frightened. You were like a mountain that strong winds could not move. It is just as the Holy Prophet (s.a) has said, “People lived secure in your company and their property well preserved in your hands.” You were just as the Holy Prophet (s.a) has said, “Physically weak but very strong to support the cause of Allah, of a very humble soul, but very great in the sight of Allah, the chief on earth and majestic in the sight of the believers. No one could ever find faults with you or advance criticism. No one could ever involve you in corruption. You never showed anyone (corrupt) compliance. The weak and feeble to you were strong popular until you would restore their rights and the powerful and popular were weak and feeble to you until you would make to yield to others rights. People of close relation or otherwise were all equal to you in such cases. You aimed the truth, the true and kindness. Your words were law and final and your commands were based on forbearance and determination your view was knowledge and the final decision in what you would do. The system is established, the pitfalls are routed, the fires (of mischief) are extinguished, religious issues are balanced and through you Islam has become strong. The guidance of Allah has become manifest even though the unbelievers dislike. Islam, the through you, and the believers are strengthened. You have raced (for Divine excellence) a long race and cause a great deal of weariness to those behind you. Losing you can never be compensated with weeping and your death is a great issue in heavens and it has threatened the people (with emergence of chaos). “We are the servants of God and to Him we shall all return.” (2:156) We accept the decision of Allah and submit to His commands. By Allah, the Muslims will never find any one like you. You were a fortress and the stronghold like a heavy mountain and the intense anger for the unbelievers. May Allah join you with His Holy Prophet (s.a). May Allah not deprive us of your rewards and keep us safe against mis-guidance after you. People remained silent until he finished his words. He wept and the companions of the Messenger of Allah wept. Thereafter, they searched for him but he was nowhere to be found.”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.