‘The conqueror of Persia, Sayyiduna Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) says that’ the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) as his deputy (in Madinah) on the occasion of the Battle of Tabuk. So he (Ali) said,“O Messenger of Allah! Are you leaving me among women and children?”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“Are you not pleased that your status with me is like that of Harun (Aaron) with Musa (Moses), except that there is no prophet after me?”

Narrated from Sayyiduna Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said on the day of the battle of Khaybar:“I will give this flag to the person at whose hand Allah will grant victory, and he loves Allah and His Messenger, and Allah and His Messenger love him.”Then the people spent the whole night discussing who would be given this honor by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). When morning came, everyone went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) hoping that the flag would be given to him. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,“Where is Ali bin Abi Talib?”The people replied,“O Messenger of Allah! His eyes are sore.”Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent for him, applied his saliva to his eyes, and prayed for him, so he was completely cured as if he had no ailment. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave him the flag. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) submitted,“O Messenger of Allah! Shall I fight them until they become like us (i.e., Muslims)?”The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,“Proceed gently until you reach their ground, then invite them to Islam and inform them of what is obligatory upon them from the rights of Allah. By Allah, if Allah guides a single person through you, it is better for you than red camels.”

Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) says that when a man from the descendants of Marwan became the ruler in Madinah, he summoned Sahl (may Allah be pleased with him) and ordered him to curse Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). Sahl (may Allah be pleased with him) refused, so the man said,“If you refuse to curse, then say: May Allah’s curse be upon Abu Turab.”Sahl (may Allah be pleased with him) said:“Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) loved no name more than Abu Turab, and he would be pleased with anyone who called him by this name.”The man said,“Tell me the story of why he was called Abu Turab.”Sahl (may Allah be pleased with him) said:“The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to the house of Fatimah al-Zahra (may Allah be pleased with her) and did not find Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) at home. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked, ‘Where is your cousin?’ She replied, ‘There was something between me and him, and he got angry and left, and he did not sleep here.’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to a man, ‘See where he is.’ The man came and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Ali is sleeping in the mosque.’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), who was lying down, and his cloak had slipped from his side and dust had gotten on his body. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) began to wipe off the dust and said, ‘O Abu Turab! Get up. O Abu Turab! Get up.’

Abu Uthman says: In those days when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to fight (the disbelievers), there were some days when no one remained with him except Sayyiduna Talha and Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with them both).

‘Muhammad bin Munkadir narrates from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he heard him say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged the people to strive in jihad on the day of the Trench. Sayyiduna Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) responded,“I am present and ready.”Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called again, and Sayyiduna Zubair was the one who responded. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called again, and Sayyiduna Zubair was the one who responded. Finally, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Every prophet has a special companion, and my special companion is Zubair.”

Abdullah bin Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) says: On the day of the Trench, Umar bin Abi Salamah and I were with the women in the fortress of Hassan bin Thabit. Sometimes he would bend down for me to look, and sometimes I would bend down for him to look. I recognized my father at that time when he went out towards Banu Qurayza armed and mounted on a horse. Later, I mentioned this to my father, and he said, "Son, did you see me?" I said, "Yes." He said, "By Allah, on that day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) combined his parents for me and said, 'May my parents be sacrificed for you.'"

‘Sayyiduna Urwah bin Zubair says that’ Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said to me: By Allah, both your fathers (that is, Zubair and Abu Bakr) are among those mentioned in this verse, that is,“those who obeyed Allah and His Messenger even after being wounded.”(Sayyiduna Abu Bakr Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, was Urwah’s maternal grandfather and Sayyiduna Zubair, may Allah be pleased with him, was his father. But a grandfather is also called a father.) And in another narration it is:“That is, Abu Bakr and Zubair (may Allah be pleased with them both).”

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was on the mountain of Hira. The rock of the mountain shook, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Be still, O Hira! There is none upon you except a Prophet, a Siddiq, or a martyr." And with him (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali, Uthman, Talhah, and Zubair (may Allah be pleased with them). (The Prophet was the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself, the Siddiq was Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and the rest were all martyred, killed unjustly, including Sayyiduna Talhah and Zubair.)

‘Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) says that one night (while returning from a battle) on the way to Madinah, the eyes of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) opened and he could not sleep, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“I wish that someone from among my companions, a fortunate one, would guard me throughout the night.”Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) says that just then we heard the sound of weapons, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Who is it?”A voice replied:“O Messenger of Allah! It is Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas.”The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Why have you come?”He replied:“I felt fear for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) within myself, so I have come to guard you.”Thus, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for him and then slept.

Sayyiduna Amir bin Sa’d narrates from his father, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gathered his parents for him on the day of Uhud. Sayyiduna Sa’d, may Allah be pleased with him, said that there was a man among the polytheists who had caused great harm to many Muslims (i.e., he had martyred many Muslims). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“O Sa’d, shoot arrows, may my parents be sacrificed for you.”I took out an arrow for him which did not have a tip; it struck his rib and he (the polytheist) fell down, and his private parts became exposed. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) laughed upon seeing this, to the extent that I saw his blessed teeth.