diseased hearts, and together they reviled the righteous predecessors, who transmitted the faith and preserved its authoritative principles and collected teachings. You find that even the most upright and reliable among them hides behind the virtues of ‘Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—and exalts him beyond the station of honor that Allah Most High assigned him.

He then narrated through al-‘Abbās ibn ‘Uqda, who said: “‘Abd Allāh ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal told me: ‘I read to