43 – Al-Ḥusayn narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us; my father—may Allah have mercy on him—told me, from Hishām ibn Muḥammad, from an elder of the Azd who related to them, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Jundab, from his father, who said:

I entered upon ʿAlī, asking after his condition. I remained standing out of respect, for his daughter Umm Kulthūm was behind a screen. I said, “Commander of the Believers, if we should lose you—may we never do—shall we pledge allegiance to al-Ḥasan?” ʿAlī replied, “I neither command you nor forbid you.” I returned and repeated the same question, and he gave the same answer.

Then he summoned his two sons, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, and said to them:

“I counsel you to fear Allah. Do not pursue this world even if it comes pursuing you, and do not weep over anything of it that is withheld from you. Speak the truth; show mercy to the orphan; support those who obey Allah; work for the Hereafter. Be an adversary to the oppressor and a helper to the oppressed. Act according to what is in the Book of Allah, and let no blame from any blamer deter you in the cause of Allah.”

He then looked toward his son Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah and said, “My son, did you understand what I have advised your two brothers?” He replied, “Yes, father.” He said, “My son, I give you the same advice, and I charge you to honor your two brothers, to acknowledge the greatness of their rights, to adorn their affairs, and never embark on a matter without consulting them. ⦗50⦘”

Then he said to al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, “And I commend him to you as well, for he is your brother, the son of your father. You know your father loved him, so love him yourselves.”