Abd al-Aziz ibn Abi Hazim, from his father: A man came to Sahl ibn Sa'd and said: This so-and-so, the governor of Medina, is naming Ali at the pulpit. He said: And what does he say? He said: He calls him "Abu Turab." Sahl laughed and said: By God, none but the Prophet (PBUH) named him so, and he had no name dearer to him than it, and he would indeed rejoice when called by it. (al-Umda of Ibn Bitriq, vol. 1, p. 26)
The narrator says: Someone came to Medina and saw that Ali (AS) was being addressed as "Abu Turab." The title made him laugh. Sahl ibn Sa'd said to him: This title was given to Ali (AS) by the Messenger of God (PBUH) himself, and from that time on, Ali (AS) loved no title as much as this one, and when they called him by this name he would be glad.
I say: Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Sa'idi al-Ansari is probably the last companion of the Prophet (PBUH); he departed this world in the year 100 AH. He was one of the narrators of the hadith of Ghadir and was always among the helpers of the Commander of the Faithful (AS).
And the correctness of what we have said is shown by what al-Tha'labi mentioned, with the chain of transmission cited earlier, in the exegesis of the words of the Most High: "Those who divided their religion and became sects" [Qur'an 6:159]. Al-Tha'labi said: Zadhan Abu Umar said: Ali (AS) said to me: Abu Umar! Do you know into how many sects this ummah will divide? I said: God and His Messenger know best. He said: It will divide into seventy-three sects, all of them in the Abyss except one, which is the saved one. Then he said: Do you know into how many they will divide concerning me? I said: Will they truly divide concerning you? He said: Yes — they will divide concerning me into twelve sects, all of them in the Abyss except one, which is the saved one — and you are among them, O Abu Umar. (al-Umda of Ibn Bitriq, vol. 1, p. 74)
The narrator says: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to me: Do you know into how many sects the ummah of Islam will divide? I said: God and His Messenger know best. He said: Seventy-three sects! Of which only one is the saved sect. Then he said: Concerning me as well, twelve sects in all will arise, of which one is the saved.
I say: What is meant by the saved sect or path is one that delivers others while itself partaking of salvation. That is, the true Shia of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) are open-handed: they take the others by the hand, deliver them from the Abyss, and make them people of Paradise — not that they enter Paradise themselves and mock the rest. In essence, the path of Ali (AS) is the path of taking the hand of the needy and the downtrodden.
Ja'far ibn Abdullah al-Muhammadi, of the descendants of Yahya ibn Muhammad, from Umar ibn Ali, who said: my father related to me from his father, from his grandfather Ali (AS), who said: The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: The right of Ali over the Muslims is like the right of a father over his children. (al-Umda of Ibn Bitriq, vol. 1, p. 280)
The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: The right of Ali (AS) over the people is like the right of a father over his children.