ʿAbd Allah ibn Aḥmad also said (1): Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf al-Shāʿir narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith narrated to me; Yazīd ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ narrated to us that Abū al-Waḍīʾ ʿAbbād related to him, saying:

“We were returning (2) to Kūfa with ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. When we were two or three nights’ march from Ḥarūrāʾ, many people broke away from us. We informed ʿAlī of this and he said, ‘Do not let their affair alarm you; they will come back.’ He then recounted the ḥadith at length. After praising Allah, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib said, ‘My close friend informed me that the leader of these people is a man with a maimed hand; on the nipple of his chest are a few hairs like the tail of a jerboa. Search for him.’ They looked for him (but did not find him), so we came back and said, ‘We have not found him.’

[He said, ‘Search for him, for by Allah I have neither lied nor been lied to,’ three times. We said, ‘We did not find him,’ whereupon ʿAlī himself came out] (3) and began saying, ‘Turn this one over, turn that one over.’ Eventually a man from Kūfa came and said, ‘Here he is.’ ʿAlī said, ‘Allahu akbar! Let no one come and tell you who his father is.’ People began saying, ‘This is Mālik, this is Mālik,’ (4) and ʿAlī asked, ‘Mālik son of whom?’

ʿAbd Allah ibn Aḥmad also said (5): Ḥajjāj ibn al-Shāʿir narrated to me; ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith narrated to us; Yazīd ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ narrated to us that Abū al-Waḍīʾ ʿAbbād related to him:

“We were returning (6) to Kūfa with ʿAlī …” He then mentioned the story of the maimed man, in which ʿAlī said, “By Allah, I have neither lied nor been lied to,” three times. ʿAlī then added, “My close friend informed me of three brothers from among the jinn: this one is the eldest, the second commands a great host, and the third is weak.”

This version is extraordinarily [and strikingly] unusual. It may be that the man with the extra breast was from the jinn—indeed, he was one of the devils, whether a devil among humans or among the jinn—if this chain is sound; Allah the Exalted knows best.

The point is that these chains are mutawātir from ʿAlī, for they have been transmitted through multiple routes by diverse narrators whose collusion on a lie is impossible. The core of the story is therefore preserved (7). Although some wording differs among the narrators, the meaning and substance on which the reports agree are sound and beyond doubt: ʿAlī related it from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who informed (8) us of the traits of the Khārijites and of the man with the extra breast, which serves as their distinguishing sign.

This has also been transmitted via a number of other Companions besides ʿAlī, as you will see in their chains and wording, and by Allah