Ibn Fudayl related to us, from al-Sari ibn Isma'il, from al-Sha'bi, from Sufyan ibn al-Layl, who said: I came to Hasan ibn Ali after his return from Kufa to Medina and said to him: O you who have humbled the believers! Among the arguments he brought against me was that he said: I heard Ali say: I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say: The nights and the days shall not pass away until the affair of this community is gathered under one man, wide of bowel and huge of gullet, who eats and is never sated — and he is Mu'awiya. So I knew that the decree of God must come to pass, and I feared that blood would flow between me and him. By God, [since I heard this hadith] it would not gladden me [to possess the world and all that the sun and the moon shine upon] and then to meet God Almighty bearing a cupping-glass full of the blood of a Muslim man. (Al-Malahim wa'l-Fitan of Ibn Tawus, vol. 1, p. 72)
The narrator says: When Hasan ibn Ali (AS) handed the caliphate over to Mu'awiya and came from Kufa to Medina, I went to see him and reproached him, saying: By your peace treaty you have humbled the believers! He said to me: I heard from my father, who had heard from the Messenger of God (PBUH), that 'rule over the Muslims will one day fall into the hands of a great-bellied glutton who is never sated, however much he eats' — and I became certain that this man is Mu'awiya, and that his prevailing has been decreed in the divine knowledge. So I did not wish that the blood of the Muslims should be spilled in vain in a war between me and him, and that I should meet God with the blood of a Muslim upon my neck.
Ibn Wahb related to us, from Harmala ibn Imran, from Sa'id ibn Salim [from Abu Salim] al-Jayshani, who said: I heard Ali say in Kufa: I fight for a truth so that it may be established, yet it will not be established, and the rule will be theirs. He said: So I said to my companions: What is the point of remaining here, when he has told us that the rule is not to be theirs? So we asked his leave to go to Egypt, and he gave leave to whoever of us wished, and gave each man of us a thousand dirhams; and a party of us remained with him. (Al-Malahim wa'l-Fitan of Ibn Tawus, vol. 1, p. 78)
The narrator says: I heard Ali (AS) say in Kufa: I fight in order to establish the truth; but it has not been established, and rule will in the end pass to the Umayyads! When I heard this, I said to my companions: What are you seeking here in Kufa, when he himself says that rule will not remain faithful to him? So we became two groups: some of us decided to remain with Ali (AS) in Kufa, and some of us asked his leave to go to Egypt and to keep clear of the wars between him and others. He gave us leave, granted each of us a thousand dirhams, and sent us off to Egypt.
Abd Allah ibn Salam mentioned, saying: When Ali took charge of the caliphate after Uthman and intended to go down to Iraq, Abd Allah ibn Salam said to him: Stay by the pulpit of the Messenger of God (PBUH) — though I do not think it will preserve you — and do not go down to Iraq, for if you go down you will not return. Some people among Ali's companions moved against him, but he said: Leave him be; he is one of us, the People of the House. So he went down to Iraq, and what befell him befell him. When he was killed, Abd Allah ibn Salam said: This is the head of the forty, and there will be a truce. No community has killed its prophet but that God has killed seventy thousand of them, and none has killed a caliph — or he said: their caliph — but that God has killed for him thirty-five thousand of them. (Al-Malahim wa'l-Fitan of Ibn Tawus, vol. 1, p. 80)
The narrator says: After Uthman, when the caliphate came to Ali (AS), he resolved to set out for Iraq. Abd Allah ibn Salam said to him: Stay here beside the pulpit of the Prophet (PBUH) and do not go to Iraq, for you will not return! — though your staying here will not preserve you either. When the companions heard this, they spoke harshly to him; but Ali (AS) said: Leave him alone! He is one of us, the People of the House. So he set out for Iraq and was at last martyred in Kufa. When Abd Allah ibn Salam heard the news of his martyrdom, he said: It is now the year forty of the Hijra, and from now on there will be a truce. A community that kills its prophet — God kills seventy thousand of them; and a community that kills its ruler — God kills thirty-five thousand of them.
Nu'aym related to us, from al-Walid ibn Muslim and Rishdin, from Ibn Lahi'a, from Abu Qubayl, from Abu Ruman, from Ali ibn Abi Talib, who said: When you see the black banners, cling to the ground and move neither your hands nor your feet. Then there will appear a people, petty and of no account, whose hearts are like lumps of iron; they are the people of the State; they keep neither covenant nor pledge; they summon to the truth, yet they are not of its people; their names are agnomens and their lineages are villages; their hair hangs loose like the hair of women — until they fall into disagreement among themselves. (Al-Malahim wa'l-Fitan of Ibn Tawus, vol. 1, p. 89)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When the black banners are raised, do nothing and go nowhere! At that time a group, shallow of mind and hard of heart, will appear, who name themselves the State and are faithful to no covenant or pledge. They hold only themselves to be in the right, though they have no worthiness for it. Their names are agnomens (Abu So-and-so) and their surnames are towns (for instance al-Baghdadi, al-Shishani). Their understanding and discernment is slight, no more than that of women. Among themselves there is constant discord.
Nu'aym related to us: Yahya ibn al-Yaman related to us, from Kaysan al-Raqashi al-Qassar, who was trustworthy, who said: My master related to me, saying: I heard Ali say: The Mahdi will not come forth until a third are killed, a third die, and a third remain. (Al-Malahim wa'l-Fitan of Ibn Tawus, vol. 1, p. 128)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: The time of the Mahdi will not come until a third of the people are killed, and a third die, and only a third remain.
Nu'aym related to us; al-Walid and Rishdin related to us, from Ibn Lahi'a, from Abu Qubayl, from Abu Ruman, from Ali, who said: When a caller calls out from heaven that the truth is in the family of Muhammad, at that moment the Mahdi will appear upon the tongues of the people, and they will drink in love of him, so that they will make mention of none but him. (Al-Malahim wa'l-Fitan of Ibn Tawus, vol. 1, p. 129)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: When a caller calls out from heaven that the truth is with the family of Muhammad, then the name of the Mahdi will be upon every tongue and love of him in every heart, such that there is no talk but talk of him.
He mentioned another hadith from our master Ali (AS), that he said: Mu'awiya is the Pharaoh of this community, and Amr ibn al-As is its Haman. (Al-Malahim wa'l-Fitan of Ibn Tawus, vol. 1, p. 231)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: Mu'awiya is the Pharaoh of this community, and Amr ibn al-As is its Haman.
Abu Sahl related to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Abd al-Mu'min related to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ghalib related to us, saying: Hadiyya ibn Abd al-Wahhab informed us, from Abd al-Hamid, from Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Aziz, who said: Ali ibn Abi Talib said to me, while he was preaching in Kufa: O people, cling to the ground after me, and beware of the strays of the family of Muhammad; for strays of the family of Muhammad will come forth and will not see what they desire, because of their disobedience to my command and their casting away of my covenant. And a banner will come forth from the descendants of al-Husayn, and affliction will encompass the people, and God will try the best of creation until the foul is set apart from the pure, and people will disown one another; and this will last long, until God grants them relief through a man of the family of Muhammad. And whoever of my offspring comes forth and acts otherwise than I have acted and follows a way other than my way, I am quit of him. And every one of my offspring who comes forth before the Mahdi is nothing but a slaughter-beast. And beware of the deceivers among the children of Fatima, for among the children of Fatima there will be deceivers. (Al-Malahim wa'l-Fitan of Ibn Tawus, vol. 1, p. 248)
One day the Commander of the Faithful (AS) mounted the pulpit in Kufa and said: O my Shia, after me do nothing! (Cling to the ground after me.) That is, put the craving for rule out of your heads. Beware in particular of those of my descendants who go seeking rule. From my line men will continually rise in revolt and will not attain what they desire, because they did not heed my words and forgot this covenant! I see a banner raised which brings affliction upon the people and creates division among them. Such trials will last long, until the time of the community's relief comes through the Mahdi of the family of Muhammad. Know that any of my children whose conduct is not like my conduct and whose way is not my way is not of me, and I am quit of him. Any of my children who rises in revolt before the Mahdi will in the end be overcome and killed. Know that from the children of Fatima there will appear deceivers; beware of them.
He mentioned, with his chain, from Ishaq ibn Abd Allah, from his father, from Abd Allah ibn al-Harith ibn Nawfal, from Ali ibn Abi Talib, that he said to his sons: Do not seek this affair, for none of you seeks it but that he is killed for it. (Al-Malahim wa'l-Fitan of Ibn Tawus, vol. 1, p. 249)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to say to his sons: After me, do not go seeking the caliphate, for you will be killed!
He said: And from him (AS): How fair is this world and its favour, when the one who attains it obeys God! Whoever does not share his wealth with the people has exposed its favour to turning away. (Al-Malahim wa'l-Fitan of Ibn Tawus, vol. 1, p. 361)
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: How becoming are the blessings of this world and its favour for one who is obedient to God; but for one who does no good with his wealth and gives nothing to the people, the favour of this world is more ill-omened for him than its turning away.
And from the aforementioned collection: He said: And from the words of al-Husayn (AS): My father was a guide-mark for the ignorant and a reminder for the heedless. When God chose for His Prophet the abode of His prophets, Quraysh disliked him, so he left them alone as a herdsman leaves his camels. Then the people gave allegiance to Abu Bakr, and he granted him his affection and offered him his sincere counsel. And when Umar was made caliph, some people disliked him and others were content with him, and my father was among those who approved allegiance to him and did not dislike his caliphate. Then the people gave allegiance to Uthman, and they could not do without his counsel and his presence. Then Uthman was killed, and he saw no one to stand in his place — and had he seen such a one, he would have handed the affair over to him — and he was never seen to be eager for it. So he took up the command in order to establish the prescribed limits that had been left in abeyance, and to point out the truths that had been denied and forgotten. Then the standards of hypocrisy and the banners of discord were unfurled against him, and ... the world, and it adorned itself with its fairest adornment; yet he never ceased to unpick what they had knit and to knit what they had unpicked, until God took him in the best of his states and the most excellent of his hours. (Al-Malahim wa'l-Fitan of Ibn Tawus, vol. 1, p. 363)
Imam al-Husayn (AS), describing his father Ali (AS), said: My father was ever a banner of guidance for the ignorant and a reminder for the heedless. When the Messenger of God (PBUH) passed away, Quraysh turned their faces from my father, and he too left them alone, like a shepherd who abandons his camels. So the people gave allegiance to Abu Bakr, and my father extended to him the hand of friendship and was sincere in counsel to him. When rule came to Umar, and a group did not approve of him, my father again gave him allegiance and held that allegiance to be sound, and did not turn away from his caliphate. When Uthman took office, my father gave him counsel and helped him. When Uthman was killed, there was no one to accept the caliphate, and my father found no one able to bear this burden — had he found such a one, he would have handed the caliphate over to him, for he had no greed for it. He accepted the caliphate in order to carry out the prescribed limits that had been left in abeyance and to revive the truths that had fallen into decay. My father strove continually to bring back to the straight path whatever had inclined towards falsehood, and at last upon this path he drank the draught of martyrdom, on the best night of the year and while he was in the best of the states of his life.