Identification of narrator: (1) He is the "admonisher and preacher" (mudhakkir, wa'iz) Muhammad bin Ali bin Umar al-Naysaburi.

Grading: (2) Despite its narrators being thiqah, it is "munkar".
Technical note / Defect ('illah): Abd al-Razzaq has been criticised for what he narrated without his book, because he became blind at the end of his life, and things would be prompted to him (talqin) and he would accept them. People attributed to him hadiths that were not in his books, which were prompted to him after he became blind (Imam Ahmad said this in al-Athram's questions to him; see: Tahdhib al-Kamal 18/57). And this hadith is not in any of his books.
Statements of the imams: Al-Bukhari said in "al-Tarikh al-Kabir" (6/130): "What he narrated from his book is more authentic." Ibn Hibban said in "al-Thiqat": "He was among those who erred when narrating from memory, and he had some Shi'ism in him." Al-Daraqutni said (Tarikh Dimashq 36/182): "He is thiqah, but errs upon Ma'mar in hadiths that were not in the book." Yahya bin Ma'in rejected this hadith (and he was among those who heard from Abd al-Razzaq before he became blind). When he learned that Abu al-Azhar (Ahmad bin al-Azhar, who is thiqah and saduq) had narrated it, he absolved him of it and placed the blame on someone else (as will come), alluding to Abd al-Razzaq, since Abu al-Azhar most probably came to Abd al-Razzaq in Yemen after he had become blind.

Note / Clarification: Some scholars rejected this hadith. Ibn Adi said in "al-Kamil" (1/192), in the biography of Abu al-Azhar: "This hadith is from Abd al-Razzaq, and Abd al-Razzaq is among the truthful, but he is associated with Shi'ism; perhaps it was confused for him because he was a Shi'i."

Reference / Source: Abu Ya'la al-Khalili said in "al-Irshad" (2/813), in the biography of Abu al-Azhar: "He narrated from Abd al-Razzaq a hadith that people rejected from him"; and then he mentioned the story of Yahya bin Ma'in with Abu al-Azhar, which is coming with the author.

Grading: Ibn al-Jawzi said in "al-Ilal al-Mutanahiyah" (348): "This hadith is not authentically established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), although its meaning is correct. And woe to whoever took the trouble to fabricate it, since there was no benefit in that."

Grading: Al-Dhahabi said in "Talkhis al-Mustadrak": "Even though its narrators are thiqah, it is munkar and not far from being fabricated. Otherwise, why did Abd al-Razzaq narrate it secretly and not dare to utter it before Ahmad, Ibn Ma'in and the multitude who travelled to him (in earlier times)?"

Grading: Al-Dhahabi said in "al-Mizan" (2/613), in the biography of Abd al-Razzaq: "Although it is not sahih, its meaning is correct, except for its last part, about which there is some unease in the heart." And in "al-Siyar" (9/574) he said: "His most outrageous hadith is the one that the trustworthy narrator Ahmad bin al-Azhar alone narrated from him on the virtues of Imam Ali, for it is almost fabricated (shibh mawdu'). And Muhammad bin Ali bin Sufyan al-San'ani al-Najjar corroborated him in it."

Reference / Source: Ibn Adi (1/192, 5/312), al-Tabarani in "al-Awsat" (4751), Abu Bakr al-Qati'i in his additions to Ahmad's "Fada'il al-Sahabah" (1092), al-Lalaka'i in "Usul al-I'tiqad" (2644), Abu Ya'la al-Khalili in "al-Irshad" (2/813-814), al-Khatib in "Tarikh Baghdad" (5/68), Ibn al-Maghazili in "Manaqib Ali" (145, 430), Ibn Asakir (42/291-292) and al-Mizzi in "Tahdhib al-Kamal" (in the biography of Ahmad bin al-Azhar 1/259) narrated it through various routes from Abu al-Azhar Ahmad bin al-Azhar, with this same chain.

Reference / Source: Al-Hakim narrated it outside "al-Mustadrak" (as al-Dhahabi reported in "Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'" 9/575), through the route of Muhammad bin Ali bin Sufyan al-San'ani al-Najjar from Abd al-Razzaq.
Narrator research: This Muhammad bin Ali is "majhul al-hal"; al-Dhahabi mentioned him in "Tarikh al-Islam" (6/615), but no criticism or praise of him is reported.

Corroborating chains and supporting reports: In the meaning of the first part of the hadith, namely his (peace and blessings be upon him) statement: "O Ali, you are a master in this world and a master in the Hereafter", there is the hadith of Imran bin al-Husayn, found in al-Tahawi (Sharh Mushkil al-Athar: 149), Ibn al-A'rabi (al-Mu'jam: 2457), Ibn Shahin (Fada'il Fatimah: 13), al-Hakim (Fada'il Fatimah: 184) and Ibn Asakir, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Fatimah: "I have married you to one who is a master in this world and a master in the Hereafter."
Grading: Its chain is weak.

Corroborating chains and supporting reports: In the meaning of the rest of the hadith (which mentions love, enmity, and woe for hatred) there is the hadith of Ali bin Abi Talib himself, which Muslim (78) and others narrated: "By the One who split the seed and created the soul, it is the covenant of the unlettered Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to me that none but a believer will love me and none but a hypocrite will hate me."

Important point: Al-Dhahabi said in "al-Mizan", in the biography of Abd al-Razzaq, after declaring the meaning of the hadith correct: "Woe to whoever hates him (Ali) - there is no doubt about this. Rather, woe to whoever belittles him or lowers his rank and does not love him as his peers, the people of the Shura (may Allah be pleased with them all), are loved."

Details of the narration: In his narration of this account from Yahya bin Ma'in, al-Hafiz Ahmad bin Yahya al-Tustari added - as in "Tarikh Baghdad" (5/ 69) - that Yahya said to Abu al-Azhar: "The fault (error) in this hadith belongs to someone other than you."