He said—ʿAlī stated: “I was a man who loved battle, so when al-Ḥasan was born I intended to name him Ḥarb.” He then related the report in almost the same wording given above, though he made no mention of the third child. Some narrations further relate that ʿAlī first called al-Ḥasan “Ḥamzah” and al-Ḥusayn “Jaʿfar,” but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ changed both names.

The first woman ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) married was Fāṭimah, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He consummated the marriage with her after the Battle of Badr, and she bore him al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn, and—according to some reports—Muḥassin, who died in infancy. She also bore him Zaynab the Elder and Umm Kulthūm the Elder, the latter of whom was later married to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, as noted earlier. During Fāṭimah’s lifetime ʿAlī never married another woman. After her death—six months after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—he took several wives; some died while he was alive, others he divorced, and he passed away leaving four wives, as will be mentioned.

Among his wives was Umm al-Banīn bint Ḥizām—Abū al-Majal (1) ibn Khālid ibn Rabīʿah ibn Kaʿb ibn ʿĀmir ibn Kilāb. She bore him al-ʿAbbās, Jaʿfar, ʿAbd Allāh, and ʿUthmān. All four were killed alongside their brother al-Ḥusayn at Karbalāʾ, and none left descendants except al-ʿAbbās.

Another of his wives was Laylā bint Masʿūd ibn Khālid ibn Mālik of Banī Tamīm. She bore him ʿUbayd Allāh and Abū Bakr. Hishām ibn al-Kalbī said that they too were killed at Karbalāʾ, while al-Wāqidī claimed that ʿUbayd Allāh was slain by al-Mukhtār ibn Abī ʿUbayd on the Day of the Dār.

He also married Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays al-Khathʿamiyyah, who, according to al-Kalbī, bore him Yaḥyā and Muḥammad the Younger. Al-Wāqidī maintained that she bore him Yaḥyā and ʿAwn, adding that Muḥammad the Younger was born to a concubine (umm walad).

Among his wives was Umm Ḥabībah bint Rabīʿah ibn Bujayr (2) ibn al-ʿAbd ibn ʿAlqamah. She was a concubine taken from the captives seized by Khālid [ibn al-Walīd] from Banī Taghlib during the raid on ʿAyn al-Tamr. She bore him ʿUmar—who lived to be eighty-five (3) years old—and Ruqayyah.

Another was Umm Saʿīd bint ʿUrwah ibn Masʿūd ibn Muʿattib (4) ibn Mālik al-Thaqafī, who bore him Umm al-Ḥasan and Ramlah the Elder.

He also married the daughter of Imriʾ al-Qays ibn ʿAdī ibn Aws ibn Jābir ibn Kaʿb ibn ʿAlīm ibn Kalb al-Kalbiyyah, who bore him a young daughter. The child would accompany ʿAlī to the mosque, and when people asked her, “Who are your maternal uncles?” she would reply, “Wah, wah,” meaning the Banū Kalb.