Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When Hasan was born, I named him Harb. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) heard about the birth of the child and came and said: "Show me my son. What have you named him?" I replied: Harb. He said: "No, his name is Hasan." Then when Husayn was born, I named him Harb. On this occasion too, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came and said: "Show me my son. What have you named him?" I again replied: Harb. He said: "No, his name is Husayn." The same happened at the birth of the third son, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) changed his name to "Muhsin." Then he said: "I have named these children after the children of Hazrat Harun (peace be upon him), whose names were Shabbar, Shabbir, and Mushbir."

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that when we were about to leave Makkah, the daughter of Sayyiduna Hamza (may Allah be pleased with him) started following us, calling out,“Uncle! Uncle!”I took her by the hand and entrusted her to Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), and said to her,“Take care of your cousin.”When we reached Madinah, there was a dispute between me, Sayyiduna Ja’far, and Sayyiduna Zayd bin Harithah (may Allah be pleased with them) regarding the guardianship of the girl. Sayyiduna Ja’far (may Allah be pleased with him) argued that she was his uncle’s daughter, and her maternal aunt, Sayyidah Asma bint Umais (may Allah be pleased with her), was married to him, so her guardianship was his right. Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said that she was his niece. I claimed that I had brought her and she was my uncle’s daughter. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) decided the matter, saying:“Ja’far! You resemble me in appearance and character. Ali! You are from me and I am from you. And Zayd! You are our brother and our freed slave. The girl will stay with her maternal aunt, for the maternal aunt is like the mother in status.”I said,“O Messenger of Allah! Why don’t you marry her?”He replied,“Because she is my foster niece.”

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that I heard a man supplicating for forgiveness for his polytheist parents, so I said, "Can a person supplicate for forgiveness for his polytheist parents?" He replied, "Did not Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) supplicate for forgiveness for his father?" I mentioned this to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so this verse was revealed: «﴿مَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِيِّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ يَسْتَغْفِرُوا لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ﴾ [التوبة: 113] » "It is not appropriate for the Prophet and the believers to seek forgiveness for the polytheists."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that sometimes the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would be performing prayer at night, and Sayyidah Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) would be lying between him and the Qiblah.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Even if only one day remains for the end of the world, Allah Almighty will surely send a man from among us who will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it had previously been filled with oppression and tyranny." (The reference is to Sayyiduna Imam Mahdi, may Allah be pleased with him, about whom a separate book by this humble author titled "The Concept of Imam Mahdi in Islam" is available in the market.)

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said that Sayyiduna Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him) resembled the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from the chest up to the head, and Sayyiduna Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) resembled the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the lower part.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever commits a sin in this world and receives its punishment, then Allah is too just to punish His servant again. And whoever commits a sin in this world and Allah conceals it and forgives him, then Allah is too generous to reopen the matter of that which He has already forgiven."

Habbah Arni says that I once saw Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) laughing on the pulpit in such a way that I had never seen him laugh so much before, to the extent that even his back teeth became visible. Then he said that I remembered something my father Abu Talib once said. One time, I was praying with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Batn Nakhlah when Abu Talib came and said, "Nephew! What are you both doing?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) presented Islam to him. He said, "There is nothing wrong with what you both are doing, but by Allah! I will not be able to raise my hips (in prayer)." Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) laughed in amazement at his father's words and said, "O Allah! I do not take pride in the fact that, besides Your Prophet, any servant of Yours in this Ummah worshipped You before me." Repeating this statement three times, he said, "I performed prayer seven years before the people started praying."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that once we were praying with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when suddenly the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) left the prayer and went home, and we remained standing as we were. After a short while, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned, and drops of water were dripping from his head. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in prayer again from the beginning, and after finishing, he said: "When I stood for prayer, I remembered that I had become impure by choice, so if any of you feels some disturbance in his stomach, or experiences a condition like mine, he should do as I did."

Abdur Rahman bin Abi Laila says that my father used to converse with Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) at night about various matters. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) had a strange habit: he would wear warm clothes in the winter and cool clothes in the summer. Someone said to my father, "If you ask Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) about this, perhaps he will answer you?" So, when my father asked, Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: Once, on the day of the Battle of Khaybar, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a messenger to me. I was suffering from an eye disease, so I said, "O Messenger of Allah! I have an eye ailment." Upon hearing this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) put his saliva in my eyes and prayed: «اَللّٰهُمَّ أَذْهِبْ عَنْهُ الْحَرَّ وَالْبَرْدَ» "O Allah! Remove from him the heat and the cold." From that day until today, I have never felt heat or cold. On that occasion, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said, "I will give this flag to the person who loves Allah and His Messenger, and who is beloved in the sight of Allah and His Messenger, and he will not flee." The noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) began to present themselves for this purpose, but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) granted that flag to me.