2720 – Abu Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Lāl—may Allah have mercy on him—said: ʿAbd al-Bāqī ibn Qāniʿ the ḥāfiẓ related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Shāfiʿī, known as ʿAbdān, narrated to us; he said: Ibrāhīm ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Shīrāzī narrated to us; he said:

When ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm took up residence in Shīrāz he said to me, “Shall I single you out for a hadith?” I replied, “Please do.” He said,

“Al-Mutawakkil once asked me, ‘O ʿAlī, the hadith that is reported from the Prophet ﷺ, “Ten men of Quraysh are in Paradise” — what is its status?’
I answered, ‘Commander of the Faithful, it is among the most authentic of hadiths.’
He said, ‘Who has transmitted it?’ ⦗1497⦘
I replied, ‘It was narrated by Sufyān al-Thawrī, from Manṣūr, from Hilāl ibn Yasāf, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ẓālim, from Saʿīd ibn Zayd, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stated, “Ten are in Paradise.”’
He exclaimed, ‘How excellent!’
I then said, ‘Commander of the Faithful, something has just come to mind; may I recite it?’
He said, ‘Recite.’
So I said:

[baḥr al-sarīʿ]

Muhammad—best of the children of al-Naḍr;
Of this just witness Abu Bakr speaks.

The Truthful Friend of the Best of Creation, never slackening
In championing him, in hardship and in ease.

The third of the band, who ruled after the two,
Guiding the people on land and sea—

That is Abu Ḥafṣ; his like shall abide
Until the closing of all ages.

Glory to Him who honoured them with piety
And lodged the righteous in their graves.

Here lies true glory; none other compares—
Once the tomb is sealed, all boast is gone.

The fourth of the company, the imam of guidance,
ʿUthmān, man of the Two Lights, Abū ʿAmr.

He relieved the Messenger of Allah of his cares
And equipped the army in the Hour of Hardship.

⦗1498⦘

The fifth of them is the son of Abū Ṭālib,
A just imam, his victory manifest—

Companion at Ṣiffīn and battles before it,
From Ḥunayn back to Badr.

Talḥah the Good is their sixth;
Allah delivered him from disbelief.

Their seventh is al-Zubayr, ally of the even and the odd,
Bound by an oath to both.

Then Saʿd is their eighth,
Together with Ibn ʿAwf, master of polished speech.

Hamzah, the chief of his clan,
Among the leaders shines like the full moon.

And the Master of all creation—doubt it not—
Is the sire of monarchs, nobles of Zuhrah.

Dominion rests with them forever,
From the dawn of time until the Day of Gathering.

He (al-Mutawakkil) laughed, and that day produced a large sum of money—meaning that he distributed it among the Banū Hāshim, Quraysh, the Anṣār, and the sons of the Muhājirūn—and he allotted me a generous share of it.