It was also transmitted by Hishām ibn ʿAmmār, from Ibrāhīm ibn Aʿyan, from ʿUmar ibn Abī Zāʾidah, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī al-Safar, from al-Shaʿbī, who mentioned the same report.
Abū Bakr ibn Durayd said: He informed us, through Damād, from Abū ʿUbaydah, who said: Muʿāwiyah wrote to ʿAlī, “O Abū al-Ḥasan, I have many merits: my father was a leader in al-Jāhiliyyah, I have become a king in Islam, I am the Prophet’s brother-in-law, the maternal uncle of the believers, and the scribe of revelation. (1)”
ʿAlī replied, “O father of virtues, does the son of the liver-chewer dare to boast over me?”
He then said, “Write, boy. (2)”
[from al-Wāfir]
Muhammad the Prophet is my brother and my in-law,
Hamzah, the master of martyrs, is my uncle;
Jaʿfar—who, morning and evening, soars with the angels— (3)
is my brother, the son of my mother;
The daughter of Muhammad is my shelter and my wife;
her flesh is blended with my blood and flesh. (4)
Through her, the two grandsons of Aḥmad are my sons—
so which of you possesses a portion like mine? (5)
I outstripped you all in embracing Islam,
while still a boy, before the dawn of puberty. (6)
Muʿāwiyah then said, “Hide this letter, lest the people of Syria read it and incline toward Ibn Abī Ṭālib.” The chain of transmission here is broken between Abū ʿUbaydah and the era of ʿAlī and Muʿāwiyah.
Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār and others said: Bakr ibn Ḥārithah related to me, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah, who said: I heard ʿAlī reciting while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was listening. (7)
[from al-Basīṭ]
I am the brother of the Chosen One—there is no doubt about my lineage;
I was brought up with him, and his two grandsons are my sons.
One and the same is the grandfather of the Messenger of Allah and mine, (8)
and Fāṭimah is my wife—let no frivolous speaker deny it.
I believed in him while all people were groping blindly (9)
in misguidance, idolatry, and wretchedness.
So praise be to Allah—gratitude to Him with no partner—
Ever-kind to His servant, Everlasting without end.
He said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled and remarked, “You have spoken the truth, O ʿAlī.”