It is narrated from Humayd that Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and a man asked: "Did you hear this yourself from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" At this he became extremely angry and said: "By Allah! Not everything we narrate to you did we hear ourselves from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); rather, some of us used to narrate (hadiths) to others, and we did not accuse one another (of lying)." Now the mention of the group of Companions whose virtues have reached us and whose mention came after the Companions mentioned earlier, along with knowledge of the times of their birth and death; among them is Hamal bin Malik bin al-Nabighah al-Hudhali.

It is narrated from Khalifah bin Khayyat that Hamal bin Malik bin al-Nabighah bin Jabir bin Ubayd bin Rabi'ah bin Ka'b bin al-Harith bin Kabir bin Hind bin Tabikhah bin Lihyan bin Hudhayl al-Hudhali had a house in Basrah.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) stood on the pulpit and said: "I remind (by Allah) any person who heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) give a judgement concerning the fetus (the child in the womb)." So Hamal bin Malik bin al-Nabighah al-Hudhali stood up and said: "O Commander of the Believers! I was between two women (co-wives). One of them wounded - or struck - the other with the pole of her tent, so that the woman and the child in her womb both died. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave judgement that a 'ghurrah' (that is, a male or female slave, as blood money) be given for the fetus." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Allah is the Greatest! Had we not heard this (hadith), we would have judged otherwise." The mention of Sayyiduna Aqil bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him); his honour and lineage required that he be mentioned together with his brothers and his clan, but his mention was delayed because of the scarcity of his narrations in the Musnad collections of the Imams.

It is narrated from al-Zubayr bin Bakkar that Aqil, Ja'far and Ali were born to Abu Talib, and each of them was, in succession, ten years older than his younger brother.

It is narrated from Shabab al-Usfuri that Sayyiduna Aqil bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) went to Kufah, Basrah and Syria, and he died during the caliphate of Amir Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him).

It is narrated from Mujahid bin Jabr Abu al-Hajjaj that one of the favours of Allah Almighty upon Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), and one form of the good He intended for him, was that Quraysh were struck by a severe famine, and Abu Talib had a large family (many children). So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to his uncle Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), who was the wealthiest of Banu Hashim: "O Abu al-Fadl! Your brother Abu Talib has a large family, and this hardship that you see has befallen the people. So come, let us go to him and share the burden of his family. I will take one of his sons to live with me, and you take one, and we will provide for them." Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) agreed, and the two of them came to Abu Talib and said: "We wish to lighten the burden of your household until this difficulty is lifted from the people." Abu Talib said to them: "If you leave Aqil with me, then do as you wish." So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to himself, and Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) took Ja'far to himself. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) remained constantly with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) until Allah Almighty sent him (peace and blessings be upon him) as a Prophet, whereupon he followed him and affirmed him. And Sayyiduna Abbas kept Ja'far with him, and he remained constantly with him until he accepted Islam and became independent of him.

It is narrated from Abu Ishaq that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Aqil bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him): "O Abu Yazid! I love you for two reasons: one because of my kinship with you, and the other because of the love my uncle had for you, which I know of."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say to Sayyiduna Aqil (may Allah be pleased with him): "O Aqil! I love you for two reasons: one for your own sake, and the other because of the love Abu Talib had for you."

Zayd bin Ali bin al-Husayn narrates from his father, and he from Zayd's grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) looked out from a house, and with him were his two uncles, Sayyiduna Abbas and Sayyiduna Hamzah (may Allah be pleased with them both), while Sayyiduna Ali, Sayyiduna Ja'far and Sayyiduna Aqil (may Allah be pleased with them) were working on a piece of land. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to his two uncles: "Choose from among these (to take into your care)." One of them chose Ja'far and the other chose Aqil. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You have both made your choice, and Allah has chosen Ali for me."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Aqil bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that Quraysh came to Abu Talib and said: Your nephew harms us in our gatherings and assemblies; stop him from harming us. So he said to me: O Aqil! Bring Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). He says: I went to him and brought him out of a small house. He (peace and blessings be upon him) came at midday in intense heat, walking in search of shade because of the scorching heat of the burning ground. When we reached those people, Abu Talib said: Your cousins claim that you harm them in their gatherings and assemblies, so desist from that. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his gaze to the sky and said: "Do you see this sun?" They said: Yes. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I am no more able to give this up than you are able to kindle a flame of fire from this sun." Abu Talib said (to Quraysh): My nephew has never lied, so go back.