421 — Abū Jaʿfar Ahmad ibn Yahyā al-Hulwānī informed us, saying: Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūnus informed us, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz—that is, Ibn Abī Salama—informed us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik informed us, in a hadith whose chain he traced back to ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:

“Predestination was once mentioned in his presence. He put his index and middle fingers into his mouth, moistened them with his saliva, and drew two marks with them on his forearm. He then said, ‘I bear witness that these two marks were in the Mother of the Book.’”