It is also reported that on the day of Karbalāʾ ʿUmar ibn Saʿd said, “Do not harm this sick man”—meaning ʿAlī (1).

Ibn Wahb transmitted from Mālik who said:
“ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh was one of the scholars. When he entered his prayer and someone sat beside him, he would not turn toward that person until he had finished. ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, a man of outstanding merit, used to come and sit with him; whereupon ʿUbayd Allāh would lengthen his prayer and not look at him. People said to him, ‘It is ʿAlī—and you know his rank!’ He replied, ‘Whoever seeks this matter must be willing to endure hardship for it’ (2).”

He also related that Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr once said to ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, “You sit with people who are beneath you!” He answered, “I keep the company of those whose presence benefits my religion.” Nāfiʿ later felt remorse for his remark, for ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn was indeed a man of religious excellence (3).

Ibn Saʿd narrated—through ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad, ʿAlī ibn Mujāhid, and Hishām ibn ʿUrwa—who said:
“ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn would ride his mount to Mecca and return without ever striking it. He would sit with Aslam, the freedman of ʿUmar, and someone said to him, ‘You pass by Quraysh and sit with the slave of Banū ʿAdī!’ He replied, ‘A person sits where he stands to benefit’ (4).”

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ardak—said to have been ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn’s maternal brother—reported:
“When ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn entered the mosque, he would make his way through the people until he sat in the study circle of Zayd ibn Aslam. Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr said to him, ‘May Allah forgive you! You are the leader of the people, yet you push through to sit with this slave!’ ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn replied, ‘Knowledge is to be sought, pursued, and obtained wherever it may be found’ (5).”