It has likewise been related from Ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn al-Zubayr that al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī resembled the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him.
Imām Aḥmad (1) said: ʿĀrim ibn al-Faḍl (2) narrated to us; Muʿtamir narrated to us from his father, who said: I heard Abū Tamīmah reporting from Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī, and Abū ʿUthmān related from Usāmah ibn Zayd, who said:
“The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—would seat me on one of his thighs and place al-Ḥasan on his other thigh. Then he would draw us both to himself and say, ‘O Allah, have mercy on them, for indeed I show mercy to them.’”
Al-Bukhārī (3) recorded it likewise from al-Musnadī (4), from Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl, the brother (5) of ʿĀrim, with this chain. It was also transmitted by ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī, from Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān, from Sulaymān al-Taymī, from Abū Tamīmah, from Abū ʿUthmān, from Usāmah. [It was also produced (6) by Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl and Musaddad, from Muʿtamir, from his father, from Abū ʿUthmān, from Usāmah] (7), without mentioning Abū Tamīmah—Allah knows best.
In another wording:
“O Allah, I love them, so love them.” (8)
Shuʿbah narrated—from ʿAdī ibn Thābit, from al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib—who said: I saw the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—while al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī was on his shoulder, and he was saying, “O Allah, I love him.” Both of them recorded it (9) through Shuʿbah’s narration. ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd reported it from Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq, from ʿAdī, from al-Barāʾ, adding, “and love whoever loves him.” Al-Tirmidhī graded it ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.
Aḥmad (10) also said: Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us, from ʿUbaydullāh ibn Abī Yazīd, from Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said to al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī:
“O Allah, I love him, so love him, and love whoever loves him.”
Muslim (11) reported it from Aḥmad, and both of the Two Shaykhs recorded it through the narration of Abū Hurayrah.
Aḥmad (12) further said: Abū al-Naḍr narrated to us; Warkāʾ narrated to us, from ʿUbaydullāh ibn Abī Yazīd, from Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr [from Abū Hurayrah, who said: I was with the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—in one of the markets of Madinah; he left, and I left with him, until he came to the courtyard…]