Abu Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī also recorded it (1) through ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar al-Qawārīrī, al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUmar ibn Shaqīq al-Jarmī, and al-Muʿallā ibn Mahdī, all of them from Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān with this same chain.

Khaythamah ibn Sulaymān said: “Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim narrated to us; ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā ibn Yūsuf ibn Ṣuhayb informed us; from Dukayn; from Wahb ibn Ḥamzah, who said:

‘I travelled with ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib from Madinah to Makkah and observed some roughness on his part. I therefore said, “If I return and meet the Messenger of Allah I will speak ill of him.” When I came back I did meet the Messenger of Allah, mentioned ʿAlī and spoke against him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me: “Do not speak like this about ʿAlī, for ʿAlī is your guardian after me.”’

Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī (2) transmitted—from Shuʿbah; from Abū Balj; from ʿAmr ibn Maymūn; from Ibn ʿAbbās—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to ʿAlī: “You are the guardian of every believer after me.”

Imām Aḥmad (3) said: “Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us; my father narrated to us; from Abū Isḥāq; he told me ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Maʿmar ibn Ḥazm; from Sulaymān ibn Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah; from his aunt Zaynab bint Kaʿb—who was the wife of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī—from Abū Saʿīd, who said:

‘The people complained about ʿAlī, so the Messenger of Allah stood among us to address them, and I heard him say: “O people, do not complain about ʿAlī, for by Allah, he is indeed unyielding in Allah’s cause,” or, “on the path of Allah.”’ Aḥmad alone reported this narration.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī (4) said: “Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faḍl al-Qaṭṭān informed us; Abū Sahl ibn Ziyād al-Qaṭṭān informed us; Abū Isḥāq the judge narrated to us; Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Uways narrated to us; my brother narrated to me; from Sulaymān ibn Bilāl; from Saʿd ibn Isḥāq ibn Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah; from his aunt Zaynab bint Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah; from Abū Saʿīd, who said:

‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib to Yemen. I was among those who accompanied him. When the zakāh camels were brought, we asked him to let us ride some of them so that our own mounts could rest, for we had noticed defects in our animals, but he refused and said, “You have no more share in them than any other Muslim.”

‘When ʿAlī had completed his task in Yemen and started back, he appointed someone over us while he himself hastened on and caught the Ḥajj. After finishing the pilgrimage, the Prophet ﷺ said to him, “Return to your companions until you are reunited with them.”

‘We had asked the deputy he left in charge for what ʿAlī had denied us, and he allowed it. When ʿAlī later examined the zakāh camels he found that they had been ridden—he saw the marks of the saddles—so he censured the man he had appointed and blamed him.

‘I said, “By Allah, if I reach Madinah I will go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and inform him of the harshness and constraint we suffered.”

‘When we arrived in Madinah, I went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intending to fulfil the oath I had made. I met Abū Bakr coming out from the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. When he saw me, he stopped, welcomed me warmly, asked after my condition and I asked after his. He said, “When did you arrive?” I replied, “Last night.”’