Al-Hasan ibn Ali, from his father (AS), who said: The seeker of knowledge is escorted by seventy thousand angels from the vault of heaven, saying: O Lord, bless Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 4)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The seeker of knowledge is escorted by thousands of angels from the height of heaven, and they say: O God, may Your blessings be upon Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad.
From Abu Abd Allah, who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The learned believer is greater in reward than the one who fasts, who stands in prayer, and who fights in the way of God; and when he dies, a breach is opened in Islam which nothing can close until the Day of Resurrection. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 4)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The reward and worth of the scholar is far greater than that of the worshipper and the warrior. When a scholar dies, a wound appears in Islam that cannot be repaired.
Hashim ibn Abi Ammar said: I heard the Commander of the Faithful (AS) saying: I am the Gate of God. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 61)
The narrator said: I heard the Commander of the Faithful (AS) say: I am the Gate of God.
From Ibrahim ibn Abi al-Bilad, from his father, from one of the companions of the Commander of the Faithful, who said: Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam, may God curse him, came in upon the Commander of the Faithful (AS) among the delegation of Egypt that Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, may God have mercy on him, had sent, and with him was the register of the delegation. He said: When he came to the name of Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam, he said: Are you Abd al-Rahman? He said: Yes, O Commander of the Faithful. By God, O Commander of the Faithful, I love you. He said: You lie. God created the spirits two thousand years before the bodies and settled them in the air; those among them that knew one another there became close in this world, and those that did not know one another differed in this world. And truly my spirit does not know your spirit. He said: When the man turned away, he said: If it would please you to look upon my killer, then look at this man. Some of the people said: Will you not kill him? Or he said: Kill him. He said: Who is more astonishing than this? You order me to kill my own killer! (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 88)
The narrator said: When the troops who were to set out for Egypt with Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr came into the presence of the Commander of the Faithful (AS), they presented to him the roll of their names. He looked at the names, and then he came to the name of Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam. He said: Who is Abd al-Rahman? A man raised his hand and said: It is I, O Commander of the Faithful, and I am one who loves you. Ali (AS) said: It is not so. The spirits were created long before this world, and those who love one another recognize each other in this world. But my spirit does not know your spirit. Then that company set out, and Ali (AS) said privately to those around him: This man whom you saw is my killer. They said: Then seize him and kill him! He said: How can I kill a man who has been destined by God to be my killer?
From Umar ibn Yazid, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: I was with him that day when he said: There came to the Messenger of God (PBUH) a man tall like a palm tree, and then he related a report; his name was Hama. The Messenger of God said to Ali: Teach him and be gentle with him. Hama said: O Messenger of God (PBUH), who is this whom you have ordered to teach me? For we, the company of the jinn, have been commanded to obey none but a prophet or the successor of a prophet. He (PBUH) said: He is Ali, my successor. So Ham greeted the Commander of the Faithful and learned some suras from him. Then he said: O Ali, tell me of these suras, shall I pray with them? He said: Yes, O Ham; a little of the Qur'an is much. And in another report: He said: O Ali, is what you have taught me of the Qur'an enough for me? He said: Yes, O Ham; a little of the Qur'an is much. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 98)
The narrator relates from Imam al-Sadiq (AS) that a jinn named Ham came to the Prophet (PBUH) in order to learn a part of the Qur'an from him. The Messenger of God (PBUH) sent him to Ali (AS). The jinn said: I speak only with a prophet or a successor of a prophet (or, as it is in another report: I obey none but a prophet or a successor of a prophet). The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: He is my successor. That jinn learned some suras of the Qur'an from Ali (AS), and Ali (AS) said: That is enough. He asked: Why? Ali (AS) said: Of the Qur'an, even a little is enough.
Amr, from Zadhan, who said: I heard Ali (AS) saying: There is no man over whom the razors have passed but that a verse or two verses have been revealed concerning him, leading him to Paradise or driving him to the Fire. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 139)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: There is no person who has reached the age of religious responsibility but that at least one or two verses have been made binding upon him and make him a dweller of Paradise, or one or two verses have been made binding upon him and make him a dweller of Hell.
From Anbasa, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: In the book of Ali (AS), which the Messenger of God (PBUH) dictated, it is written: If ill omen lies in anything, it lies in women. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 165)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: In the book of Ali (AS), which was dictated by the Messenger of God (PBUH) and written in Ali's hand, it is stated that if inauspiciousness and ill omen are to appear anywhere, they appear in women.
From Isa ibn Abd Allah, from his father, from his grandfather, from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: Gabriel came to the Prophet (PBUH) and said: O Muhammad, in Yemen there is an idol of stone set upon a base of iron; send for it, that it may be brought. He said: So the Prophet (PBUH) sent me to Yemen, and I brought the iron and handed it to Umar the polisher, who forged from it two swords: Dhu al-Fiqar and Mikhdham. The Messenger of God (PBUH) girded on Mikhdham and girded me with Dhu al-Fiqar; then Mikhdham too came to me afterwards. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 186)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Gabriel informed the Messenger of God (PBUH) that in a certain place in Yemen there was an idol made of iron. The Messenger of God (PBUH) sent me and I brought it. He gave it to the blacksmith, who made two swords from its iron. One he named Mikhdham and kept for himself, and the second he named Dhu al-Fiqar and gave to me. Later Mikhdham also came to me.
Muhammad ibn Muslim, from Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: Ali used to act according to the Book of God and the Sunna of His Messenger; and when something came before him, an event whose ruling was neither in the Book nor in the Sunna, God would inspire the truth concerning it into him as an inspiration. And that, by God, is among the difficult matters. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 234)
Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: Ali (AS) acted according to the Book of God and the Sunna of His Messenger, and when something occurred whose ruling was not in the Book or the Sunna, God would inspire him with the correct course. This is a matter hard for many to accept.
Dawud al-Qattan, from Ibrahim, tracing it back to the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: If I could find a trustworthy man, I would send this money with him to al-Mada'in, to the Shi'a. A man among his companions said within himself: I shall go to the Commander of the Faithful and say to him, I will take it, for he trusts me; and once I have taken it I shall take the road to al-Karkha. So he said: O Commander of the Faithful, I will take this money to al-Mada'in. He said: He raised his head to me and then said: Away from me! Take the road to al-Karkha. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 240)
The narrator said: One day the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was looking for a trustworthy person to send some money to al-Mada'in. I said to myself: I shall win his trust, take the money, and flee with it to al-Karkha. I went up to him and said: O Commander of the Faithful, I am ready to take the money to al-Mada'in. He raised his head and said: Get away from me and go off to your al-Karkha.
Muhammad ibn Sinan, tracing it back, said: Aisha said: Seek out for me a man of the most intense enmity toward this man, that I may send him to him. He said: So he was brought and stood before her. She raised her head to him and said: How far does your enmity toward this man reach? He said to her: Often do I wish before my Lord that he and his companions were within my reach, and that I might strike a blow with the sword such that the sword outstrips the blood. She said: You are the man for it. Go with this letter of mine and hand it to him, whether you find him travelling or resident. And indeed, if you see him riding the mule of the Messenger of God (PBUH), with his bow slung over his shoulder and his quiver hung from the pommel of his saddle, and his companions behind him as though they were birds in ranks, then give him this letter of mine. And if he offers you his food and his drink, take nothing of it, for in it is sorcery. He said: So I met him riding, and I handed him the letter. He broke its seal and read it, then said: Will you come to our dwelling and take of our food and our drink while we write the reply to your letter? He said: By God, that shall never be. He said: So he rode behind him, and his companions encircled him. Then he said to him: I would ask you something. He said: Yes. He said: And will you answer me? He said: Yes. He said: I adjure you by God, did she say: Seek out for me a man of intense enmity toward this man; and did they bring you to her, and did she say to you: How far does your enmity toward this man reach? And did you say: Often do I wish before my Lord that he and his companions were within my reach, and that I might strike a blow with the sword such that the sword outstrips the blood? He said: By God, yes. He said: I adjure you by God, did she say to you: Go with this letter of mine and hand it to him, whether travelling or resident; and indeed, if you see him riding the mule of the Messenger of God, his bow slung over his shoulder, his quiver hung from the pommel of his saddle, and his companions behind him as though they were birds in ranks, then give him this letter of mine? He said: By God, yes. He said: I adjure you by God, did she say to you: If he offers you his food and his drink, take nothing of it, for in it is sorcery? He said: By God, yes. He said: Then will you convey a message from me? He said: By God, yes. For I came to you when there was no creature on earth more hateful to me than you, and now at this moment there is no creature on earth more beloved to me than you; so command me with whatever you wish. He said: Take back to her this letter of mine, and say to her: You have obeyed neither God nor His Messenger, for God commanded you to keep to your house, yet you went out, going to and fro among the armies. And say to them: You have dealt fairly neither with God nor with His Messenger, for you left your own wives behind in your houses and brought out the wife of the Messenger of God (PBUH). He said: So he came with the letter and cast it before her and conveyed to her his words; then he returned to him, and he was slain at Siffin. And she said: We send no one to him but that he corrupts him against us. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 243)
The narrator said: Before the outbreak of the Battle of the Camel, Aisha was looking for a messenger to send to Ali (AS). She said: Search and find me someone who truly hates Ali. They searched and found a man who constantly wished to kill Ali (AS). Aisha said to him: Take my letter to Ali, but do not speak with him and do not eat of his food, for he will bewitch you. The messenger set out, and when he reached Ali (AS) he presented the letter. Ali (AS) said to him: Did she not choose you for this because you hated me, and did she not tell you not to speak with me and not to eat of my food? The messenger said: It was so; but now that I have seen this in you, I believe in you, O Commander of the Faithful. Ali (AS) said: Go and tell Aisha that Ali says: Why did you trample underfoot the counsel of God and His Messenger and leave your house? And tell those two, Talha and al-Zubayr, that Ali says: Well indeed have you left your own wives in your houses and driven the wife of the Messenger of God (PBUH) out into mountain and desert. The messenger came and said these things to the army of the Camel and then returned to Ali (AS). Aisha said: Everyone we send, Ali corrupts! Later that messenger was seen fighting with the sword at Ali's side at Siffin, and he was martyred.
Bakkar ibn Karram, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: A man disputed with Juwayriya ibn Umar al-Abdi over a mare, and both of them claimed the mare. The Commander of the Faithful said: Does either of you have proof? They said: No. So he said to Juwayriya: Give him the mare. He said to him: O Commander of the Faithful, without proof? He said to him: By God, I know you better than you know yourself. Have you forgotten what you did in the days of utter ignorance? And he informed him of it. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 247)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: Juwayriya fell into dispute with a man over a horse, each of them claiming the horse. They went to Ali (AS). Ali (AS) demanded proof from the two of them; they had none. He turned to Juwayriya and said: Give him back his horse. Juwayriya said: Without proof? The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I know you better than you know yourself! Have you forgotten that in the age of ignorance you did such and such? And he informed him of a secret that no one knew.
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, from Rumayla, from the Commander of the Faithful (AS): There is no believer who falls ill but that we fall ill with his illness, nor one who grieves but that we grieve with his grief, nor one who supplicates but that we say amen to his supplication, nor one who falls silent but that we supplicate for him. I said to him: O Commander of the Faithful, may God make me your ransom, is this for those who are with you, or for whoever is in the far reaches of the earth? He said: No believer is absent from us, neither in the east of the earth nor in its west. To us, the distant and the present are alike. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 259)
The narrator said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Whenever any believer falls ill, it is as though we have fallen ill; and whenever any believer grieves, we too grieve; and whenever any believer supplicates, we say amen; and when he falls silent, we supplicate for him. The narrator said: I asked: Is this only for those around you, or for the believers of the whole earth? He said: There is no believer in the east or the west of the earth who is absent from us. The present and the absent are alike to us.
Sa'd ibn Tarif, from al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, who said: Whenever a man stood before the Commander of the Faithful (AS), he would say: “O so-and-so, prepare yourself and make ready for yourself what you desire, for you will fall ill on such-and-such a day, at such-and-such an hour; the cause of your illness will be such-and-such; and you will die in such-and-such a month, on such-and-such a day, at such-and-such an hour.” Sa'd said: I mentioned these words to Abu Ja'far (AS) and he said: “So it was.” I said: “May I be made your ransom, why do you not speak likewise and inform us, so that we might prepare for it?” He said: “This is a door whose answer Ali ibn al-Husayn (AS) shut, until our Qa'im arises.” (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 262)
The narrator said: I said to Imam al-Baqir (AS): The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say to his companions, “So-and-so, be ready for death, for on such a day you will fall ill, and your illness will be such-and-such, and on such a day at such an hour you will die!” If only you too would tell us such things! Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: My father, Imam al-Sajjad, closed this door, and until the rising of the Qa'im there is no more such foretelling.
From Abu Waqqas, from Salman al-Farisi, who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: “With me is the knowledge of deaths (al-manaya), of afflictions (al-balaya), of testaments (al-wasaya), of lineages (al-ansab), and of decisive judgment (fasl al-khitab).” (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 268)
It is narrated from Salman al-Farisi (may God have mercy on him) that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: I have been given the knowledge of al-manaya (the time and cause of each person's death), of al-balaya (the afflictions decreed for each person), of al-ansab (people's true ancestry), and of fasl al-khitab (just and decisive judgment).
Al-Hasan ibn Abbas ibn Harish said: A man of his household asked Abu Abd Allah (AS) about the sura “Inna anzalnahu fi laylat al-qadr.” He said: You have asked about something tremendous. “Inna anzalnahu” is a light present with the prophets and the trustees (awsiya'). They desire no need, from heaven or from earth, but they mention it to that light — and that light has clothed their faces — and it brings it to them. Among the needs that Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) mentioned, he mentioned them to that light; it then ascended to heaven, and afterwards the light came and informed them. It has a speaking tongue and a discerning eye; it searches out reports for the trustees (AS), listens in upon secrets, and brings them the interpretation of every concealed matter. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 280)
The narrator said: I asked Imam al-Sadiq (AS) about the reality of Surat al-Qadr. He said: You have asked about a weighty matter. “Inna anzalna” is a light that presents itself to the prophets and the trustees; they tell that light their need while they are immersed in it, and it accomplishes it for them. For instance, when Ali (AS) wanted something he would tell that light, and the light would ascend and then return and inform the Commander of the Faithful (AS) of the matter. That light speaks and sees, and searches out reports for the trustees. It becomes aware of secrets and reports to them the reality of concealed affairs.
From Abu Waqqas, from Salman al-Farisi (may God have mercy on him), from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: “Ask me about what will be until the Day of Resurrection, and about every faction that leads a hundred astray and guides a hundred, and about its driver, its crier and its leader, until the Day of Resurrection. There is no fertile land and no barren land but that I know it.” (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 298)
Salman al-Farisi (may God have mercy on him) narrates that the Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say: Ask me about what is to come, until the Day of Resurrection; about those who go astray and those who are guided in every age; and about the leaders of guidance and of misguidance and the causes of each. I also know which land is fertile with regard to nurturing souls, and in which land no one is nurtured.
From al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) ordered us to march from Kufa to al-Mada'in, and we set out on Sunday. Amr ibn Hurayth stayed behind with seven men, and they went out to al-Khawarnaq, saying: “We shall take our leisure, and when Wednesday comes we shall catch up with Ali (AS) before he gathers [the people].” While they were eating, a lizard (dabb) came out upon them and they caught it. Amr ibn Hurayth took it, spread out its paw and said: “Pledge allegiance to him; this is the Commander of the Faithful!” So the seven pledged allegiance to it, Amr being the eighth of them. They set off on Wednesday night and reached al-Mada'in on Friday, while the Commander of the Faithful was upon the pulpit delivering the sermon. They had not parted from one another and were all together until they alighted at the door of the mosque. When they entered, the Commander of the Faithful looked at them and said: “O people, the Messenger of God (PBUH) confided to me a thousand hadiths; in every hadith are a thousand doors, and for every door a key. And I heard God say: ‘On the Day We shall summon every people with their imam’ [Qur'an 17:71]. And I swear to you by God that eight men will be raised up whose imam is the lizard; and had I wished to name them, I would have done so.” He said: Had you seen Amr ibn Hurayth, he was shrivelling as a palm-frond shrivels, out of shame and self-reproach. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 306)
The narrator said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) sent us from Kufa toward al-Mada'in, and we set out on Sunday. When we had gone a little way, Amr ibn Hurayth and seven other men separated from the army and went off to al-Khawarnaq, to amuse themselves, as they put it. On Wednesday the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who was coming behind the army, caught up with us, but those eight had still not rejoined the troops. It seems that they had spread out a banquet somewhere when a lizard appeared. They caught the lizard and tied it up, and Amr ibn Hurayth, in mockery, would press the lizard's paw and say: “Pledge allegiance to the Commander of the Faithful!” The other seven likewise shook hands with the lizard and, as it were, pledged allegiance to it, laughing all the while. These eight rejoined the army at al-Mada'in on Friday, while Ali (AS) was delivering the sermon from the pulpit. When his eyes fell upon those eight he said: O people, the Messenger of God (PBUH) taught me a thousand hadiths belonging to the secrets — hadiths each of which is a door of gnosis and a key of wisdom. Among them he expounded to me the meaning of “On the Day We shall summon every people with their imam.” Then he said: By God, eight of you will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection while your imam is a lizard to which you pledged allegiance. Do not make me name those eight! The narrator said: We saw those eight men crimson with shame.
Jabir, from Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: While the Commander of the Faithful (AS) was in the mosque of Kufa, a woman came seeking redress against her husband. He gave judgment for her husband against her, and she grew angry and said: “By God, there is no truth in what you have judged, nor is your judgment pleasing in God's sight.” The Commander of the Faithful became angry and gazed at her for a long while, then said to her: “You lie, O brazen one, O foul-tongued one, O salsa'!” — that is, one who does not conceive from where women conceive. She said: The woman turned and fled, wailing and crying: “Woe to me! Woe to me! O son of Abi Talib, you have torn away a secret that was hidden!” Amr ibn Hurayth caught up with her and said to her: “O handmaid of God, you confronted Ali (AS) with words that gladdened me; then he pricked you with a single word and you turned from him in flight, wailing.” She said: “By God, Ali (AS) told me the truth, and told me what I have concealed from my husband since he took charge of me, and from my parents.” So Amr returned to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and informed him of what the woman had said, and said to him: “By what do you say such things? We have never known you to be a soothsayer.” He said to him: “O Amr, woe to you! This is nothing of soothsaying. Rather, God created the spirits two thousand years before the bodies; and when He set the spirits within their bodies, He wrote between their eyes: believer or unbeliever, and with what they will be tried, and what evil and what good deeds they will do — all in the space of a mouse's ear. Then He sent down a Qur'an concerning that to His Prophet, saying: ‘Surely in that are signs for those who discern (al-mutawassimin)’ [Qur'an 15:75]. The Messenger of God (PBUH) was the discerner, then I after him, and the imams of my progeny after me — they are the discerners. So when I looked closely at her, I knew her state by her mark.” (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 354)
The narrator said: Ali (AS) was seated in the mosque of Kufa when a woman came and complained against her husband. Ali (AS) gave the right to the husband. The woman grew angry and said: O Ali, you judge contrary to the truth, and your judgment is not pleasing to God! Ali (AS) became angry and stared at the woman for a while, then said: You lie, O brazen woman, O foul-tongued woman, O salsa' (a word with no meaning in the Arabic language). When the woman heard this she was thrown into confusion and fled, crying out: Woe to me! Woe to me! O son of Abi Talib, you have laid bare my secret! The narrator said: Someone went after the woman, and when she had calmed down he asked her what the Commander of the Faithful had said. The woman said: With a single word he uttered a secret of mine that neither my father nor my husband nor anyone else knows. The narrator said: That person returned and told Ali (AS) what he had heard, and remarked that because of such disclosures of the unseen people were accusing him of soothsaying. Ali (AS) said: These things are not soothsaying. Then he said: Before this worldly creation, God created the spirits of human beings, and at the time of joining the spirit to the body He inscribes upon their forehead something the size of a mouse's ear, upon which is written their faith and their unbelief, their trials, and their good and evil deeds. This is what God meant in the Qur'an when He said: “Surely in that are signs for those who discern.” The discerner was the Prophet of God, and after him I am, and after me the imams who come after me. As soon as I look deeply into a person's forehead, I understand his state.
From Ali ibn al-Thumali, from one who related to him, from the Commander of the Faithful: that he was with his companions in the mosque of Kufa when a man said to him: “May my father and mother be your ransom, I marvel at this world, which is in the hands of these people while it is not with you.” He said: “O so-and-so, do you suppose that we desire the world and are not given it?” Then he took a handful of pebbles, and behold, they were jewels. He said: “What is this?” I said: “This is of the finest of jewels.” He said: “Had we wanted it, it would have been so; but we do not want it.” Then he cast down the pebbles, and they returned as they had been. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 375)
The narrator said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was in the mosque of Kufa when a man came and said: May my father and mother be your ransom, O Ali; I marvel at this world, which has fallen to your enemies and has withheld itself from you! The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Do you suppose that we sought the world and it was not given to us? It is not so; we have not sought the world. Then he picked up a handful of pebbles from the ground, and at once they became jewels in his hand. He said: What are these? They said: They are jewels! He said: Had we wished, the whole world would have become jewels for us; but we do not wish it. Then he poured the jewels onto the ground, and at once they became pebbles again.
From Abd al-Rahim al-Qasir, from Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: When a matter came before Ali concerning which no scripture and no sunna had been revealed, he would cast lots with pebbles and hit upon the truth. (In some manuscripts: “he cast and hit the mark”; and in some reports, after “he cast”: “that is, he drew lots”; and in some manuscripts: “he would conjecture it and hit upon it.”) Abu Ja'far (AS) said: These are among the intractable matters. (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 389)
Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: When a matter arose whose ruling was not in the Book and the Sunna, Ali (AS) would cast lots with pebbles (or: he would conjecture; or: it would be inspired to him), and it would prove correct. The Imam (AS) said: Understanding this matter is among the difficult things.
From al-Asbagh ibn Nubata: A man of the assembly rose and greeted the Commander of the Faithful (AS), then said: “O Commander of the Faithful, I hold your walaya as my religion before God, and I love you in secret as I love you in the open.” He said to him: “You have spoken truly. Your clay is from that clay, and your covenant was taken upon our walaya, and your spirit is of the spirits of the believers. So take for poverty a cloak; for by Him in whose hand is my soul, I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: ‘Poverty comes to those who love us swifter than a torrent from the head of the valley to its bottom.’” (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 390)
The narrator said: Someone came and sat before the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: O Ali, my religion is the acceptance of your walaya, and I love you in secret and in the open. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) replied: You speak truly! Your clay is of such a clay, and the covenant upon our walaya has been taken from you, and your spirit is of the spirits of the believers. Then he said: Since it is so, lay up good provision for the day of your poverty! By God, in whose hand is my soul, I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: Poverty reaches those who love us sooner than a torrent reaches the bottom of the valley. (We say: The opening of this hadith, as we have related it, was put to Imam al-Sadiq (AS), and he said that what is meant by “the day of poverty” is the Day of Resurrection, and what is meant by “the cloak” is good deeds. By the same reasoning it becomes clear that the poverty in the prophetic hadith is poverty before God (faqr ila Allah). Blessed are the people of love, who traverse the degrees of poverty before God faster than other wayfarers and attain sooner to annihilation in God and to meeting Him.)
From Jabir, from Abu Ja'far (AS): Ali (AS) said: “I am the divider of Paradise and the Fire: I admit my friends into Paradise and I admit my enemies into the Fire.” (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 415)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: I am the divider of Paradise and the Fire! I bring my friends into Paradise and my enemies into Hell.
Ali ibn Abd al-Aziz, from his father, who said: I said to Abu Abd Allah (AS): “May I be made your ransom, people claim that the Messenger of God (PBUH) sent Ali (AS) to Yemen to judge among them, and that Ali said: ‘No case came before me but that I judged in it by the ruling of God and the ruling of His Messenger (PBUH).’” He said: “They have spoken truly.” I said: “How could that be, when the whole Qur'an had not yet been revealed and the Messenger of God (PBUH) was absent from him?” He said: “The Holy Spirit would meet him with it.” (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 452)
The narrator said: I asked Imam al-Sadiq (AS): The Prophet (PBUH) sent Ali to Yemen to judge among the people by the ruling of God and His Messenger, yet the Prophet himself was not with Ali (AS), nor had the Qur'an been fully revealed at that time; so how did he judge? The Imam (AS) said: The Holy Spirit assisted him.
From Zurara, from Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: “There is no one who possesses knowledge of anything except that it came forth from the Commander of the Faithful.” (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 518)
Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: There is no knowledge with anyone whose source is not the Commander of the Faithful (AS).
Muhammad ibn Muslim, from Abu Ja'far (AS), who said: I heard him say: “No one possesses anything of truth or of right, and no one among the people renders a judgment in which he attains the truth, except that its key is Ali.” (Basa'ir al-Darajat, vol. 1, p. 519)
Imam al-Baqir (AS) said: Every truth and every right thing, and every judgment that is correct — its key is Ali (AS).