[Section on the Rāfidī’s Claim That Ali Was the Bravest of Men and the Response to It]

(Section)

The Rāfidī (1) said:

“Fourth: He was the bravest of men. By his sword, the foundations of Islam were made firm (2) and the pillars of faith were raised high. He was never defeated on any battlefield (3), nor did he ever strike with a sword (4) without cleaving his target. Many a time (5) he delivered the Messenger of Allah (6)—peace and blessings be upon him—from distress. He did not flee as others fled, and he shielded him with his own body when he spent the night in the Messenger’s bed (7), concealed beneath the Messenger’s wrap, so the polytheists mistook him for the Messenger. The polytheists had agreed to kill the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him (8)—and they surrounded him, bearing arms and watching for the break of dawn so that they might kill him in full view. His blood would then go unavenged, for Banū Hāshim would see that his killers came from all the tribes and would be unable to avenge him because all of them had shared in shedding his blood. Every tribal faction would thus refrain from fighting its own kinsmen, and that was