or a wooden tablet so that I may write a document for Abū Bakr about which no one will ever differ.’ When ʿAbd al-Raḥmān rose to fetch it, the Prophet said, ‘Allah and the believers would never allow you to disagree about Abū Bakr.’ A similar report comes from Anas.

Shuʿayb ibn Maymūn related from Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from al-Shaʿbī, from Abū Wāʾil, who said: People asked ʿAlī, ‘Will you not appoint a successor over us?’ He replied, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not designate a successor—how, then, should I do so?’ Shuʿayb alone transmits this report, and he is known for some irregular narrations.

Shuʿayb ibn Abī Ḥamzah narrated from al-Zuhrī, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik, that Ibn ʿAbbās informed him: ʿAlī came out from the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ during the illness in which he passed away. The people asked, ‘Abū al-Ḥasan, how is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ this morning?’ He answered, ‘Praise be to Allah, he is recovering.’ ʿAbbās then took him by the hand and said, ‘By Allah, in three days you will be a servant under the staff. By Allah, I can see that Allah will take the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in this very illness; I recognise the faces of the sons of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib at the moment of death. Come with me to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ so that we may ask him about whom this authority belongs to: if it is ours we shall know, and if it is for someone else we can request that he make a bequest concerning us.’ ʿAlī replied, ‘By Allah, if we ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it and he withholds it from us, the people will never grant it to us afterwards. By Allah, I will not ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it.’ Al-Bukhārī recorded this narration, as did Maʿmar and others.

Abū Ḥamzah al-Sukkari narrated from Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, from al-Shaʿbī, who said: ʿAbbās said to ʿAlī—may Allah be pleased with them both—‘I can already discern death in the face of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Let us go to him and ask him; if he appoints a successor from among us, so be it, and if not, he can at least enjoin the people to treat us well.’ ʿAlī responded to ʿAbbās with words that were somewhat harsh. When the Prophet ﷺ passed away, ʿAbbās said to ʿAlī, ‘Stretch out your hand so that we may pledge allegiance to you,’ but he withheld his hand. Al-Shaʿbī remarked, ‘Had ʿAlī obeyed ʿAbbās—on either of the two suggestions—it would have been better for him than red camels.’ And he also said, ‘If only…’