As for his statement:
“‘Alī has a greater right to this title,”
it may be answered: First, who disputes that? Who has ever said, “‘Alī was not one of Allah’s swords”? MSS A and B read: “was not a sword of Allah.”
The statement of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—which is authentically established, indicates that Allah has several swords, and there can be no doubt that ‘Alī was among the greatest of them. No Muslim gives Khālid precedence over ‘Alī, such that it could be claimed that Muslims reserved this title exclusively for Khālid. It was the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who conferred this title in an authentic hadith, saying:
“Indeed, Khālid is one of Allah’s swords.”
It may then be answered: Second, ‘Alī was greater in rank than Khālid, and too eminent for his merit to be reduced to his being one of Allah’s swords. ‘Alī possessed such knowledge, eloquence, religious devotion, faith, and precedence in Islam (1) that these made him too great for his merit to be reduced to his being one of Allah’s swords. A sword’s defining function is fighting (2), whereas fighting (3) was only one of ‘Alī’s merits. Khālid, by contrast, was distinguished from others specifically by this merit. He did not attain distinction through early precedence in Islam, abundant knowledge, or great (4) asceticism; rather, he attained distinction through fighting. For this reason, Khālid was described as one of Allah’s swords.
As for his statement:
“‘Alī killed the disbelievers with his sword.”