And from him (AS): that he was one day upon the pulpit of Basra when he said: O people, ask me before you lose me; ask me about the paths of the heavens, for I know them better than the paths of the earth. Then a man from the midst of the people rose before him and said: Where is Gabriel at this hour? So he cast his gaze towards the sky, then cast his gaze towards the east, then cast his gaze towards the west, and found no place for him; then he turned to him and said: O you elder, you yourself are Gabriel. He said: Thereupon he beat his wings, flying up from among the people, and those present clamoured at that and said: We bear witness that you are truly the successor of the Messenger of God. (Fada'il Ibn Shadhan, vol. 1, p. 98)
The narrator says: One day the Commander of the Faithful (AS) said from the pulpit of Basra: O people! Ask me before you lose me; ask me about the paths of the heavens (the spiritual way), for I know them better than the paths of the earth (the way of livelihood). At that moment a man rose from the midst of the crowd and said: Where is Gabriel right now? The Commander of the Faithful (AS) lifted his gaze to the sky and then looked to the west and to the east. Then he turned to that man and said: O elder! You yourself are Gabriel. Suddenly a mighty bird took wing from among the people, flew up into the sky and vanished from sight, while the people cried out and fled, and a group shouted: By God, O Ali! You are truly the rightful successor of the Prophet.
And among his virtues (AS), with which God Almighty singled him out apart from all others, is what one whom I trust related from Ammar ibn Yasir (may God be pleased with him), who said: I came to Ali ibn Abi Talib and said to him: O Commander of the Faithful, for three full days I have been fasting and folding my stomach with nothing to eat, and this day is the fourth. So he (AS) said to me: Follow me, O Ammar. Then my master went out to the open country: were you to take of that what would suffice you and from which you might give alms, there would be no harm in it. Then he (AS) said: O Ammar, this is the measure of what suffices us for this day. Then he covered it over, heaped earth upon it and turned away from it. Then Ammar parted from him and was absent for a good while; then he returned to the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: O Ammar, it is as though I see you having gone off to the treasure to seek it. He said: O Commander of the Faithful, by God, I made for the place to take something of the treasure, but I found no trace of it. He (AS) said: O Ammar, when God Almighty knew that we have no desire for this world, He disclosed it to us; and when God, mighty and majestic, knew that you have a desire for it, He put it far away from you. (Fada'il Ibn Shadhan, vol. 1, p. 112)
The narrator relates from Ammar ibn Yasir that one day I came into the presence of Ali (AS) and said: For three days I have been fasting because I had nothing, and today, which is the fourth day, hunger has left me exhausted. Ali (AS) said: Come with me! I went with him out into the desert. In a certain place he pushed the earth aside and gave me a few coins from a treasure and said: This is for your need in these days, and so that you may give something in alms as well! Then he covered the treasure over with earth and we returned. A few days later I went again to Ali (AS). He said: You went alone in search of that treasure and did not find it? I said: Yes, O Ali. He said: O Ammar! When God saw my lack of desire for this world, He disclosed the treasures of the earth to me. And it is precisely your desire for the treasure that keeps the treasure hidden from you.
By the chain of transmission traced back to Munqidh ibn al-Abqa', who was one of the intimates of our master the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: I was with our master Ali (AS) on the fifteenth of Sha'ban, and he intended to go out to a place of his to which he would withdraw by night. He set out, and I with him, until he came to the place; he dismounted from his mule and went about his own concern. He said: Then the mule snorted and pricked up her ears. He said: My master sensed it and said to me: What is behind you, O brother of Banu Asad? What has befallen her? He said: Then the Commander of the Faithful (AS) looked out into the open country and said: It is a beast of prey, by the Lord of the Ka'ba! Then he rose from his place of prayer girded with Dhu'l-Fiqar and began to stride towards the beast; then he shouted at it, and it grew meek and stood lashing its flanks with its tail. He said: At that the mule became calm. Then he said to it: O lion, O father of cubs! Do you not know that I am the lion, and that I am the fierce one, the mighty one and Haydar? What has brought you here, O lion? Then he said: O God, make its tongue speak. Thereupon the beast said: O Commander of the Faithful, O best of the legatees, O heir of the knowledge of the prophets! For seven days I have hunted nothing, and hunger has harmed me. I saw you from a distance of two farsakhs, so I drew near to you and said to myself: I shall go and see what people these are and who they are; and if I have power over them, I shall take my share of them. So he (AS) answered him: O lion, I am the father of the eleven cubs. Then the Imam (AS) stretched out his hand to it, seized the fur of its neck and drew it towards himself, and the beast stretched itself out before him; and he (AS) began to stroke it from its head to its shoulders, saying: O lion, you are the dog of God upon His earth. The beast said to him: Hunger, my master! So the Imam said: O God, bring it its provision, by the right of Muhammad and the people of his house. He said: Then I turned, and behold, the lion was eating something in the shape of a camel until it had finished the whole of it. When it had done eating, it stood before him and said: O Commander of the Faithful, we, the company of wild beasts, do not eat the flesh of those who love you and those who love your progeny; for we are a household that holds fast to love of the Hashimites and their progeny. He said to it: O beast, where do you shelter and where do you dwell? It said: My master, I am set over your enemies, the dogs of the people of Syria — I and my household — and they are our prey; and we shelter by the Nile. He said: What brought you to Kufa? It said: O Commander of the Faithful, I came to Kufa for your sake, but did not find you there, so I crossed the wastes and the deserts until I stood before you, out of my longing for you. This very night I am departing to al-Qadisiyya, to a man called Sinan ibn Malik ibn Wa'il, one of those who escaped from the battle of Siffin, a man of Syria. Then it growled and turned away. Munqidh ibn al-Abqa' al-Asadi said: I marvelled at that, and Ali (AS) said to me: Do you marvel at this? Is the sun more marvellous in its returning, or the spring in its welling forth, or the stars in their falling, or the skull, or all the rest of it? By Him who split the seed and created the soul, if I wished to show people what the Messenger of God (PBUH) taught me of wondrous signs and miracles, they would turn back as unbelievers. Then he returned to his place of prayer and dispatched me that very hour to al-Qadisiyya. I arrived before the muezzin had finished the call to prayer, and I heard the people saying: A beast of prey has devoured Sinan. So I went to him with those who were looking on, and I saw that the beast had left nothing of him but the tips of his fingers, the two shin-bones and his head; and they carried his bones and his head to the Commander of the Faithful (AS). (Fada'il Ibn Shadhan, vol. 1, p. 170)
The narrator says: On the night of the fifteenth of Sha'ban I was with Ali (AS). That night he wished to go to a certain place and pass the night there. I accompanied him. When we reached the place, he dismounted from his horse and occupied himself with worship. In the darkness of the night the horse became aware of something, grew restless, pricked up its ears and neighed. I said: O Commander of the Faithful, there is something out in the desert, close to us. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) looked out into the desert and said: Yes! It is a beast of prey. Then he rose from his place of prayer, drew Dhu'l-Fiqar from its scabbard, went towards the darkness and let out a cry like a roar. Then he grew calm, and I heard him begin to speak with an animal. I saw that it was a lion, and Ali (AS) was saying to it: What do you want? The lion wagged its tail, striking its flanks to left and right, and kept silent. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said to it: I too am a lion like you, only among human beings! Then he said: O God, loosen its tongue, that I may see what it wants. So the lion spoke and said: O Commander of the Faithful! For a week I have eaten nothing. For two farsakhs I have been following you. I said to myself: I shall go after these people, and if I prevail over them I shall take my share and be filled. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) passed his hand kindly over the lion's head and said: You are the lion of God! The lion said: A hungry lion, whose hunger has worn out his patience! The Commander of the Faithful (AS) raised his hands in supplication and said: O God, by the right of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, satisfy his hunger! The narrator says: I saw something like a piece of a camel fall before the lion, and the lion set about eating it. When it was full and had finished, it turned to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said: We wild beasts do not stretch out our hands against those who love you! Our prey is appointed. For instance, a few nights from now, in al-Qadisiyya, a man named Sinan ibn Malik ibn Wa'il, who is one of your enemies, is to be my prey. Then the lion roared and went away from us. Some time later news came that a lion had torn to pieces a man named Sinan in al-Qadisiyya and had left nothing of him but his head. They brought his head to Kufa and set it before the Commander of the Faithful (AS); and Ali (AS) fixed his eyes upon the head, and then cast a glance at me.
By the chain of transmission traced back to al-Asbagh ibn Nubata, who said: I was sitting with the Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) while he was judging among the people, when a group came forward bringing a black man with his shoulders bound, and they said: This is a thief, O Commander of the Faithful. He (AS) said: O black man, did you steal? He said: Yes, my master. He said: Consider what you are saying — did you steal? He said: Yes. So he said to him: May your mother be bereft of you! If you say it a second time, I shall cut off your hand. Did you steal? He said: Yes. Thereupon he (AS) said: Cut off his hand, for the cutting has become obligatory upon him. He said: So his right hand was cut off, and he took it in his left hand while it was dripping. A man called Ibn al-Kawwa' met him and said to him: O black man, who cut off your right hand? He said to him: My right hand was cut off by the master of the believers, the leader of the radiant-browed, and the foremost of people in certainty. At that Ibn al-Kawwa' said to him: Woe to you, O black man! He cut off your right hand, and you praise him? The Commander of the Faithful (AS) turned to his son al-Hasan and said to him: Rise and bring me your uncle, the black man. He said: So al-Hasan (AS) went out in search of him and found him in a place called Kinda, and brought him to the Commander of the Faithful, who said: O black man, I cut off your right hand, and you praise me? He said: My master, O Commander of the Faithful, why should I not praise you, when love of you has mingled with my flesh and my blood? By God, you cut it off only by a right that was due against me, whereby one is delivered from the punishment of the hereafter. So he (AS) said: Give me your hand. He handed it to him, and he took it and set it in the place from which it had been cut, then covered it with his cloak and stood and prayed (AS), and made supplications that were not repeated; and we heard him say at the end of his supplication: Amen. Then he lifted the cloak and said: Join together, O veins, as you were! He said: The black man rose, saying: I believe in God, and in Muhammad His Messenger, and in Ali, who restored the hand after its cutting and its severing from the wrist. Then he fell upon his feet and said: May my father and my mother be your ransom, O heir of the knowledge of prophethood. (Fada'il Ibn Shadhan, vol. 1, p. 172)
The narrator says: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) was judging among the people when a black slave was brought before him with his arms bound, and they said: He has committed theft! Ali (AS) asked him: Are they telling the truth? The slave said: Yes. Ali said: Consider well! If you confess again, I shall carry out the prescribed penalty upon you. The slave insisted that he had stolen. So the Commander of the Faithful (AS) ordered his hand to be cut off. The slave, with blood dripping from his severed arm, took the severed piece in his other hand and went out. Ibn al-Kawwa' saw him and asked: Who has done this to you? The slave said: The master of the believers, the leader of the radiant-browed, and the foremost of people in certainty. Ibn al-Kawwa' said: He has cut off your hand, and you praise him? When the Commander of the Faithful (AS) heard of the affair, he said to al-Hasan (AS): Go and find your uncle, the black slave! Al-Hasan (AS) went in search of him, found him in Kinda in Kufa, and brought him into the presence of the Commander of the Faithful (AS). Ali (AS) asked: Do you really praise me after your hand has been cut off? The slave said: Why should I not? Love of you has been mingled with my very being, and you carried out the judgement of God and saved me from the punishment of the hereafter! The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Come here! And he joined the severed hand to the arm, bound it firmly with his own cloak, pronounced the opening takbir and prayed two units of prayer; and after the prayer he raised his hands in supplication and said things we did not understand. Then he said Amen, pressed the wound firmly and said: O veins! Join together, as you were joined before. Then he opened the cloak, and we saw that the man's hand was as it had been on the first day, as though it had never been cut off at all.