to them. I caught up with him at al-Juhfa, took the letter from him, and Abū Bakr returned. He asked, “O Messenger of Allah, has something been revealed concerning me?” He replied, “No. Rather, Gabriel came to me and said: None shall convey on your behalf except you yourself or a man from you.” (1)

This was also narrated by Kathīr al-Nawwāʾ, from Jumayʿ ibn ʿUmayr, from Ibn ʿUmar in a similar wording, but it is objectionable on the point of ordering the return of the Truthful One, for the Truthful One did not turn back. He was in fact the commander of the pilgrimage in the ninth year, and it was ʿAlī, together with a number of others, whom the Truthful One dispatched to pass through the precincts of Minā on the Day of Sacrifice and the Days of Tashrīq, proclaiming the declaration of disavowal (barāʾah). We have already explained this in the section on the Hajj of the Truthful One and at the beginning of the commentary on Sūrat al-Barāʾah.

[Another ḥadith]
It has likewise been transmitted (2) on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd, Muʿādh ibn Jabal, ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn, Anas [ibn Mālik], Thawbān, ʿĀʾisha, Abū Dharr, and Jābir that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Gazing at the face of ʿAlī is an act of worship.” (3) There is also a report from ʿĀʾisha that “Mentioning ʿAlī is an act of worship.” None of these reports is sound, for every chain of transmission (4) contains either a liar or an unknown narrator whose reliability is unestablished—and he is a Shiʿi partisan.

[The ḥadith of giving the ring in charity while bowing]
Al-Ṭabarānī said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Salm (5) al-Rāzī narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā narrated to us; Ḍurays al-ʿAbdī narrated to us; ʿĪsā ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib narrated to us; my father narrated to me, from his father, from his grandfather, from ʿAlī, who said:

“This verse was revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: ‘Indeed, your ally is Allah, His Messenger, and the believers—those who establish prayer and give zakāh while bowing’ (al-Māʾidah 55). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then went out, entered the mosque, and found the people praying—some bowing, others standing—when a beggar came. He said, ‘O beggar, has anyone given you anything?’ He replied, ‘No, except that worshipper who is bowing—ʿAlī—he gave me his ring.’ ”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir (6) said: My maternal uncle Abū al-Maʿālī the judge informed us; Abū al-Ḥasan al-Khalʿī informed us; Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Shāhid informed us; Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Ḥārith al-Ramlī narrated to us; al-Qāḍī Jumla ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; Abū Saʿīd al-Ashajj narrated to us; Abū Naʿīm al-Aḥwal narrated to us, from