took place in 41 AH. Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—had been martyred in Ramadan of 40 AH. Al-Hasan was about seven years old when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—died, for he was born in 3 AH. Abū Bakra embraced Islam in the year of the campaign at al-Tā’if. He lowered himself by means of a pulley, and so became known as Abū Bakra (1). The campaign at al-Tā’if took place after the conquest of Mecca.

Thus, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—spoke this hadith concerning al-Hasan after eight years of the Hijra had elapsed, while its fulfilment occurred thirty years after the Prophet’s death—those being the years of the Prophetic Caliphate. Consequently, more than thirty years must have elapsed between his statement and its fulfilment, since he said it before his death—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Another report consistent with this is what is established in the Sahih (2), in the hadith of Sulaymān al-Taymī, from Abū Uthmān al-Nahdī: “Usāma ibn Zayd—may Allah be pleased with him—reported from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he would hold him and al-Hasan and say, ‘O Allah, I love them both, so love them both.’” (3)

In this hadith, he brought al-Hasan and Usāma—may Allah be pleased with them both—together, stated that he loved them both, [and supplicated to Allah to love them both] (4). His love—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for these two (5) is widely reported from him in authentic hadiths. Among them is the report in the two Sahih collections narrated by Shuʿba, from Adī ibn Thābit, who said: I heard al-Barā’ ibn Āzib—may Allah be pleased with him—say (6): “I saw the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—