الكافي- ط الاسلامية, volume 1, page 283

4. Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Ash‘ari has narrated from Mu‘alla ibn Muhammad from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Harith ibn Ja’far from Ali ibn Isma‘il ibn Yaqtin from ‘Isa ibn al-Mustafad, abu Musa al-Darir who has said that Musa ibn Ja‘far (a.s.) narrated to me the following. “I said to abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.), ‘Was Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.) not the writer of the will, the Messenger of Allah dictating, Jibril and the prominent angels as witness?” The Imam (a.s.) has said that he remained silent for quite a while and then said, “O abu al-Hassan what you said was true, however, when the command descended up on the Messenger of Allah, the will also came in the form of a sealed document. Jibril brought it along with the trustees of Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, from among the angels. Jibril then said, “O Muhammad (s.a) order every one to leave you except the executor of your will so he can take possession of the same and make us to bear witness that you delivered it to him and he (Ali (a.s.), take charge of the same in our presence. The Holy Prophet (s.a) ordered everyone else, except Ali (a.s.). Fatima was present between the door and the curtain. Jibril then said, “O Muhammad, your Lord declares peace and safety to you and says, “This is the documentation of My covenant that I had made with you, the conditions that I had set up and I had made My angels to bear witness to it. In fact, O Muhammad, I Myself am sufficient as a witness.” The Imam (a.s.) has said, “At that time all the joints in the body of Muhammad began to shake and shiver. He then said, “O Jibril my lord Himself is peace, from Him comes peace and to Him returns peace. He, Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, has spoken the truth and has granted favors. Please allow me to have the document.” Jibril then delivered it to him and commanded him to deliver it to Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.). He asked Ali (a.s.) to read it. He then read it word by word. The Prophet (s.a) then said, “O Ali (a.s.), this is the covenant of my Lord, the Most Holy, the Most High, to me and His conditions upon me and His trust with me. I have now delivered it, given good-advise and fulfilled my responsibility.” Ali (a.s.) then said, “I testify in your favor, may Allah take my soul and the souls of my parents in service for your cause, for delivering the trust, granting good advise and affirmation of your speaking the truth. My ears, my eyes, my flesh and my blood all bear witness to this.” Jibril then said, “I also am of the witnesses to this fact for both of you.” The Messenger of Allah (s.a) then said, “O Ali, have you taken possession of my will, learned its contents and offered a guarantee to Allah and to me to follow the instructions therein?” Ali (a.s.) then said, “Yes, ‘may Allah take my soul and the souls of my parents in service for your cause, it is my responsibility to follow the instructions therein and from Allah comes support for me and my success in the fulfillment of my responsibility.” The Messenger of Allah then said, “O Ali, I would like to ask you to bear testimony to my promise of rewarding for it (your executing my will) on the Day of Judgment.” Ali (a.s.) said, “Yes, I do bear such testimony.” The Prophet (s.a) then said, “Jibril and Mika’il are between us now and with them present are the prominent angels. Would you agree if I would ask them to bear testimony to this fact?” He then said, “Yes, they may bear testimony and I, may Allah take my soul and the souls of my parents in service for your cause, also ask them to bear testimony.” Then the Messenger of Allah made them to bear testimony. Of the matters that the Messenger of Allah set as condition up on Ali (a.s.) on orders from Jibril of the commands of Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, were the following. He said, “O Ali, you must follow the instruction in the will about loving those who love Allah and His Messenger and to disdain and maintain unfriendly attitude towards those who are enemies of Allah and His Messenger. It requires patience on your part and control over your anger for the usurpation of my right and the usurpation of one fifth that belongs to you and for the disregard of your respect and honor.” Ali (a.s.) then said, “Yes, O the Messenger of Allah, I accept it (this condition). Ali (a.s.) has said, “I swear by the One Who helps the seed to burst open and shapes the fetuses that I heard Jibril say to the Prophet (s.a) this. “O Muhammad, explain to him that people will disregard his respect and honor which is the respect and honor of Allah and His Messenger and that his beard will be tainted with fresh blood (from his head).” Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.) has said, “A loud sigh came out of my mouth when I understood the very words of Jibril, the trustworthy one. I fell up on my face to the ground and I said, “Yes, I accept and agree even if it will end up to the disregard of respect and honor. (I agree) even if (people) will disregard the noble traditions, insult the Book, destroy the Ka‘ba and taint my beard with fresh blood from my head. (I accept it) with patience and leave to Allah for judgement for all times until I will arrive to meet you.” The Messenger of Allah then called Fatima, al-Hassan and al-Husayn to his presence and informed them of what he had explained to Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.). They all said just like what Ali (a.s.) had said. The will was then sealed with the seals of gold that fire had not touched. It was delivered to Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.).” The narrator has said that he asked the Imam abu al-Hassan (a.s.), “May Allah take my soul and the souls of my parents in service for your cause, would you please describe what was there in the will?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “ It contained the traditions of Allah and the traditions of His Messenger.” I then asked, “Was there anything about their attacking and opposition to Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.)?” The Imam (a.s.) said, “ Yes, I swear by Allah, all and every thing was there letter by letter. Have you not heard the words of Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, “It is We who bring the dead to life and record the deeds of human beings and their consequences (of continual effects). We keep everything recorded in an illustrious Imam (Book).” [36:12] I swear by Allah that the Messenger of Allah said to Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (a.s.) and Fatima, “Did you understand well my presentation of the matter to you and did you agree to and accept it? They replied, “Yes, we did so. We will exercise patience to face what will disappoint us and cause us anger.” In the script of al-Safwan there is the following addition.

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