The Mother of the Believers, Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), narrates: "By the One by whom I swear! Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was the closest of people to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (at the time of his passing). We came in the morning to visit the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in his illness, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) was asking again and again: 'Has Ali come? Has Ali come?' Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: 'It is as though you have sent him on some errand?' The narrator (Umm Salamah) says: After that he came. Sayyidah Umm Salamah says: I sensed that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had something important to say to him, so we went out of the house and sat by the door, and I was the closest of them to the door. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) leaned over him and began to whisper and speak privately with him. Then the soul of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was taken that very day. So Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was the closest of people to him (peace and blessings be upon him) at the time of his passing." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that once the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was walking through the streets of Madinah holding my hand, when we passed by a garden. I said: "O Messenger of Allah! How beautiful this garden is!" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "In Paradise there is a garden for you even more beautiful than this." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that I went with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to visit Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was ill, and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) were sitting with him. The two of them moved from their places and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sat there. One of the two said to his companion: "I do not think that he (Ali) will survive this illness." So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He (Ali) will never die except that he will be martyred, and he will not die until he has been filled with anger (against falsehood)."

Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated during the caliphate of Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him): "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) to fight the Nakithin (those who break the pledge of allegiance), the Qasitin (the unjust and rebellious group) and the Mariqin (the Kharijites who pass out of the religion)."

Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying to Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him): "You will fight the Nakithin, the Qasitin and the Mariqin on the roads, at the Nahrawanat, and on the mountain peaks." Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari says that I said: O Messenger of Allah! With whom shall I fight against these people? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "With Ali bin Abi Talib."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "Indeed, among the things the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entrusted to me was that this Ummah will soon, after him, be disloyal and treacherous towards me." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him): "Be aware that after me you will face great hardship and trial." He said: "Will my religion be safe at that time?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, your religion will be safe." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: When I had put my foot in the stirrup intending to go to Iraq, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) came to me and said: "Do not go to Iraq, for if you go there, you will meet the edge of the sword." Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah! The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said this to me before you did." Abu al-Aswad says: I said to myself: Subhanallah! I have never seen anything like today: a fighting man telling people things like this (about his own martyrdom). This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) that Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and I were companions to each other in the expedition of Dhat al-Ushayrah. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived there and stayed, we saw some people of Banu Mudlij working at a spring of theirs in a palm grove. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to me: "O Abu al-Yaqzan! Would you like us to go to these people and see how they work?" So we went to them and watched their work for a while, then sleep overcame us. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and I went off and lay down on the dry dust in a cluster of palm trees and fell asleep. By Allah! No one woke us except the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); he (peace and blessings be upon him) was moving us with his blessed foot, and we had become covered with that dust. Seeing the dust, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Turab!" Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Shall I not tell you both about the two most wretched of people?" We said: Certainly, O Messenger of Allah! He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "One is that reddish man of the people of Thamud who hamstrung the she-camel, and the other (O Ali!) is the man who will strike you here, that is, on this part of the head, until this, that is, your beard, is soaked with it (the blood)." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it with this addition; they only agreed upon the hadith of Abu Hazim from Sahl bin Sa'd: 'Qum Aba Turab' (Get up, O Abu Turab!).

It is narrated from Jurayy bin Kulayb al-Amiri that when Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) set out for Siffin, I disliked the fighting, so I came to Madinah and presented myself before the Mother of the Believers, Sayyidah Maymunah bint al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with her). She asked: "Where are you from?" I said: From the people of Kufah. She asked: "From which tribe?" I said: From Banu Amir. She said: "Welcome, may your coming be blessed. What brings you here?" I said: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) has set out for Siffin, and I disliked the war, so I came here. She asked: "Had you given him your pledge of allegiance?" I said: Yes. She said: "Then go back to him and stay with him. By Allah! He has neither gone astray himself, nor has anyone gone astray through him." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.