It was likewise narrated by Abū al-Ṣalt al-Harawī ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn Numayr, from al-Thawrī, from Sharīk, from Abū Isḥāq, from Zayd ibn Yuthayʿ, from Ḥudhayfah with the same wording.
Al-Ḥākim Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Naysābūrī (1) said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Ādamī in Mecca informed us; Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ṣanʿānī related to us; ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn Hammām narrated to us, from his father, from Ibn Mīnāʾ (2), from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, who said:
We were with the Prophet ﷺ on the night the delegation of the jinn came. He sighed, so I asked, “What troubles you, O Messenger of Allah?”
He replied, “My own death has been announced to me.”
I said, “Then appoint a successor.”
He asked, “Whom?”
I answered, “Abū Bakr.”
He fell silent and walked on. A little later he sighed again, so I said, “What troubles you, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “My own death has been announced to me, Ibn Masʿūd.”
I said, “Then appoint a successor.”
He asked, “Whom?”
I replied, “ʿUmar.”
He remained silent and went on for a while, then sighed once more. I said, “What troubles you, O Messenger of Allah?”
He said, “My own death has been announced to me, Ibn Masʿūd.”
I said, “Then appoint a successor.”
He asked, “Whom?”
I said, “ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib.”
He said, “By Him in whose hand is my soul, if they obey him they will all enter Paradise—every single one of them.” (3)
Ibn ʿAsākir commented: Hammām and Ibn Mīnāʾ are both unknown narrators.
[Another report]
Abū Yaʿlā (4) said: Abū Mūsā—meaning Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā—narrated to us; Suhayl ibn Ḥammād Abū ʿAtāb al-Dallāl narrated to us; Mukhtār ibn Nāfiʿ al-Tamīmī narrated to us; Abū Ḥayyān al-Taymī narrated to us, from his father, from ʿAlī, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“May Allah have mercy on Abū Bakr; he married me his daughter, carried me to the Abode of Emigration, and freed Bilāl with his own wealth. May Allah have mercy on ʿUmar; he speaks the truth even when it is bitter—the truth has left him with no friend. May Allah have mercy on ʿUthmān; the angels feel modest before him. May Allah have mercy on ʿAlī. O Allah, turn the truth (5) with him wherever he turns.”
Reports have also come from Abū Saʿīd and Umm Salamah stating that the truth is with ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him. Consult each of them; Allah knows best.
[Another report]
Abū Yaʿlā (6) said: ʿUthmān narrated to us, [he said] Jarīr narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Ismāʿīl ibn Rajāʾ, from his father, from Abū Saʿīd, who said:
I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “Among you is one who will fight for the interpretation of the Quran just as I fought for its revelation.”
Abū Bakr said, “Am I that man, O Messenger of Allah?”
He replied, “No!”
ʿUmar said, “Am I that man …”