Wakīʿ related—from Abū Khālid, from al-Shaʿbī—that ʿAlī said: “We possessed nothing but the hide of a ram: we would sleep on one side of it, and Fāṭimah would knead dough on the other.” In a version transmitted by Mujālid from al-Shaʿbī he added: “During the day we would also place the watering camel’s fodder upon it, and I had no servant (1) besides her.”

Another ḥadith

Aḥad (2) said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us; ʿAwf narrated to us, from Maymūn Abū ʿAbd Allāh, from Zayd ibn Arqam, who said:
“Several Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had doors that opened directly into the mosque. One day he said, ‘Close all these doors except the door of ʿAlī.’ (3) The people spoke about this, whereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood, praised Allah, and then said:
‘To proceed: I have been commanded to close these doors except the door of ʿAlī. Some of you have voiced criticism about it, yet by Allah, I neither closed nor opened anything of my own accord; I was simply commanded to do something, so I obeyed.’”

Abū al-Ashhab also transmitted it—from ʿAwf (4), from Maymūn, from al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib—in similar wording. We have already cited the lengthy report that Aḥmad and al-Nasāʾī narrated from Abū ʿAwanah, through Abū Balj, from ʿAmr ibn Maymūn, from Ibn ʿAbbās, which likewise states that all the doors were closed except the door of ʿAlī (5). Shuʿbah likewise narrated it from Abū Balj.

[Narration of Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ]

Aḥmad (6) said: Ḥajjāj related to us; Fiṭr related to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sharīk, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ruqaym al-Kinānī, who said: “We travelled to Madinah during the time of the Battle of the Camel and met Saʿd ibn Mālik there. He said, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered that the doors opening into the mosque be closed, but he left the door of ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him).’” This chain is unique to Aḥmad.

Another chain from Saʿd (7):

Abū Yaʿlā (8) said: Mūsā ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥayyān (9) narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar al-Ṭaḥḥān narrated to us