2575 – Muhammad ibn ʿUthman narrated: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Yahya al-Zaʿfarani told us; al-Husayn ibn Ismaʿil al-Dimashqi narrated to us; Damrah narrated to us; Ibn Shawdhab narrated to us; Matar narrated, from Qatadah, from Mutarrif ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Shikhkhir, who said:

“I met ʿAli ibn Abi Talib in Basra on the Day of the Camel at al-Jazirah. He said to me, ‘What kept you from joining us? Was it your love for ʿUthman that delayed you?’ He then urged his mount on, and I likewise urged mine while offering my apology. He said to me, ‘If you love him, then indeed he was the best of us and the one who most faithfully upheld the ties of kinship.’”