Numerous other reports (1) of this tenor have been transmitted, yet they are fabricated and lack any sound basis.

More than one narrator related—through Abū al-Azhar Aḥmad ibn al-Azhar—that ʿAbd al-Razzāq told us; Maʿmar reported from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah (2), from Ibn ʿAbbās, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ looked at ʿAlī and said:

“You are a master in this world and a master in the Hereafter. Whoever loves you has loved me, and the one you love is loved by Allah. Whoever hates you has hated me, and the one you hate is hated by Allah. Woe (3) to the one who hates you after I am gone.” (4)

Several others likewise narrated—from al-Ḥārith ibn Ḥaṣīrah, from Abū Ṣādiq, from Rabīʿah ibn Nājid—that ʿAlī said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ summoned me and declared:

“In your case there is a likeness to Jesus son of Mary: the Jews hated him until they slandered his mother, and the Christians loved him until they elevated him to a rank that was not his.”

ʿAlī then continued, “Indeed, two groups will perish because of me: an excessive lover who goes too far, extolling me with attributes that are not mine; and a hater whose enmity drives him to slander me. Be aware that I am not a prophet, nor is revelation sent to me. Rather, I act according to the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Prophet as best I can. Whatever I command you in obedience to Allah, it is your duty to obey me in it, whether you like it or dislike it.” This is the wording recorded by ʿAbd Allah ibn Aḥmad (8).

[Another narration]

Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān said: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn Mus-hir narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Mūsā ibn Ṭarīf, from ʿAbāyah, from ʿAlī, who said: “I am the divider of the Fire: on the Day of Resurrection I will say, ‘This one is yours and this one is mine.’”

Yaʿqūb commented: “Mūsā ibn Ṭarīf is weak and needs someone to shore him up—he is not reliable—and ʿAbāyah is even weaker; his ḥadīth is worthless (9).”

It is related that Abū Muʿāwiyah reproached al-Aʿmash for narrating this report, whereupon al-Aʿmash replied, “If I forget, remind me.” It is also said that al-Aʿmash only transmitted it sarcastically, mocking the Rāfiḍī Shīʿah and belittling them for believing it.

I say: What some of the common folk imagine—indeed, what is widespread among many of them—that ʿAlī will be the one who serves people at the Pond has no foundation. No acceptable chain exists that can be relied upon. What is firmly established is that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is the one who will give people to drink.