He said:
“I was sitting with Ibn ʿAbbās when ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn arrived. Ibn ʿAbbās welcomed him, saying, ‘Welcome, beloved son of a beloved one.’

Abū Bakr ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Ṣūlī said:
Al-ʿAlāʾī narrated to us (1); Ibrāhīm ibn Bishār narrated to us, from Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, from Abū al-Zubayr who said:
“We were with Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh when ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn entered. Jābir said, ‘I was once with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī came in. The Prophet folded him in his arms, kissed him, and seated him beside him. He then said:
“From this son of mine a child will be born who will be called ʿAlī. On the Day of Resurrection a herald will proclaim from beneath the Throne, ‘Let the master of the worshippers rise!’ and he will rise.’”
This report is exceedingly rare; Ibn ʿAsākir included it (2).

Al-Zuhrī said: “I spent much time in the company of ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn and never saw anyone more learned than he. He was sparing in speech, the finest of his household in obedience, and the most devout. He was also the dearest of people to Marwān and his son ʿAbd al-Malik, and they called him Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (3).”

Jawriyah ibn Asmāʾ said: “ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn never took a single dirham because of his kinship to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” May Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with him (4).

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd (5) reported: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad informed us, from Saʿīd ibn Khālid, from al-Maqburī who said:
“Al-Mukhtār sent one hundred thousand [dirhams] to ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn. He disliked accepting it yet feared to return it, so he kept it with him. When al-Mukhtār was killed, he wrote to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān: ‘Al-Mukhtār sent me one hundred thousand. I was reluctant to take it and unwilling to send it back, so send someone to collect it.’ ʿAbd al-Malik replied: ‘Cousin, keep it; I have made it lawful for you.’ So he accepted it.”

ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn said: “The nobles of mankind in this world are the generous who fear Allah; in the Hereafter, the nobles are the people of religion, virtue, and knowledge who fear Allah, for the scholars are the heirs of the Prophets (6).”

He also said: “I am ashamed before Allah—exalted is He—to see my brother in need, pray that Allah admits him to Paradise, yet be stingy with him concerning worldly goods. If, on the Day of Resurrection, it is said to me, ‘Had Paradise been in your hand you would have been even stingier, and more miserly,’ what will I say? (7)”

They related that he often wept. When asked about it he replied: “Jacob (peace be upon him) wept until his eyes turned white over Joseph, though he did not even know that Joseph had died. I have seen a dozen or so of my family slaughtered in a single morning—do you think their sorrow will ever leave my heart? (8)”