Ḥarmalah said: Ibn Wahb related to us, from Ibn Luhayʿah, from Ibn Hubayrah, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zurayr (1) al-Ghāfiqī, who said: We accompanied ʿAlī on the Day of Sacrifice, and he placed before us a dish of khazīrah (2). We said, “May Allah set matters right for you! If only you would serve us this duck and goose, for Allah has granted abundant good.” He replied, “O Ibn Zurayr, I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘The caliph may not take from the wealth of Allah except two bowls: one from which he and his family eat, and one with which he feeds the people.’ (3)”

Imam Aḥmad (4) reported: Ḥasan and Abū Saʿīd, the freedman of Banū Hāshim, both said: Ibn Luhayʿah narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hubayrah (5) narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zurayr, who said: I visited ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—Ḥasan adds: on the Day of Sacrifice—and he brought khazīrah close to us. We said, “May Allah improve your condition! Would you not feed us this duck—meaning the goose—for Allah has given plenty of good?” He replied, “O Ibn Zurayr, I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘The caliph is not entitled to take from Allah’s property except two bowls: one from which he and his household eat, and one he places before the people.’”

Abū ʿUbayd said: ʿAbbād ibn al-ʿAwwām narrated to us, from Marwān ibn ʿAntrah, from his father, who said: I entered upon ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib in al-Khurnaq while he was wrapped in a qaṭīfah—a coarse cloak—shivering from the cold. I said, “O Commander of the Believers, Allah has set aside for you and your family a portion of this wealth, yet you are trembling from the cold!” He replied, “By Allah, I do not deduct anything from your wealth. This cloak is the very one with which I left my house”—or he said, “with which I left Madinah.” Abū Nuʿaym added: I heard Sufyān al-Thawrī say, “ʿAlī never set a brick or even a reed upon another brick (6); yet a small bag of dried dates would be brought to him from Madinah.”

Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān (7) said: Abū Bakr al-Ḥumaydī narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us; Abū Ḥassān (8) narrated to us, from Majmaʿ ibn Simʿān (9) al-Taymī, who said: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib came out to the market carrying his sword and said, “Who will buy this sword of mine? Had I possessed four dirhams with which to purchase an izār (waist-wrapper) I would not have sold it.”

Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār said: Sufyān related to me, from Jaʿfar—he thought it was from his father—that whenever ʿAlī put on a shirt he would extend his hand through the sleeve, and whatever of the sleeve exceeded the length of his fingers he would cut off, saying, “The sleeve should not extend beyond the fingers.”

Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh said, from Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād, from Miqsam, from Ibn ʿAbbās: ʿAlī purchased