418 - ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, saying: Suwayd ibn Saʿīd narrated to me, saying: Muhammad ibn al-Furāt narrated to us, from Abū Ishāq, from al-Hārith, who said:

Whenever ʿAlī ascended the pulpit, he would offer the greeting of peace and say:

“O people, whatever I tell you, saying, ‘Allah said,’ or ‘The Messenger of Allah said,’ or ‘It is in the Book of Allah,’ hold fast to it. By Allah, I would rather fall from the sky and be snatched away by birds, or be swept by the wind to a far-off place, than lie about Allah, His Messenger, or His Book. But whatever I tell you on my own authority, question me about it. The best of this community after its Prophet is Abū Bakr, and after Abū Bakr, ʿUmar. As for the third, if I wished to name him, I would.”

Then he would deliver the sermon.