While God's messenger's head was on my lap on a moonlight night I asked, "Messenger of God, has anyone done as many good deeds as there are stars in the sky?" He replied, "Yes„ `Umar has." I asked how Abu Bakr's good deeds compared and he replied, "All `Umar's good deeds are like one of Abu Bakr's good deeds." Razin transmitted it.

God's messenger was lying in his house with his thighs, or his legs, uncovered when Abu Bakr asked permission to enter and he gave him permission while he was in that condition and he conversed. `Umar asked permission to enter and he gave him permission while he was like that and he conversed. Then `Uthman asked permission to enter and God's messenger sat up and arranged his clothing. When he went out 'A'isha said, "Abu Bakr entered and you did not stir for him or worry about him; then `Umar entered and you did not stir for him or worry about him; then `Uthman entered and you sat up and arranged your clothing." He replied, "Shall I not be modest with one towards whom the angels are modest?" In a version he said, "'Uthman is a modest man, and I was afraid that if I allowed him to enter when I was in that state, he might not tell me what he wanted." Muslim transmitted it.

Talha b. `Ubaidallah reported God's messenger as saying, "Every prophet has a companion, and my companion (i.e., in paradise) will be `Uthman." Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Ibn Majah transmitted it on Abu Huraira's authority. Tirmidhi said this is a gharib tradition whose isnad is not strong, and is broken.

I was with the Prophet when he was urging the people to help the army of distress[*]. `Uthman got up and said, "Messenger of God, I shall provide a hundred camels with their cloths and saddles in God's path." Afterwards he urged that help be given the army, and `Uthman got up and said, "I shall provide two hundred camels with their cloths and saddles in God' path." Again, he urged and 'Uthman got up and said, "I shall provide three hundred camels with their cloths and saddles in God's path." I saw God's messenger coming down from the pulpit, and he was saying, "Anything he does will not count against `Uthman after this; anything he does will not count against `Uthman after this." *This is a name applied to the expedition to Tabuk in 9 A.H. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

When the Prophet equipped the army of distress `Uthman brought him a thousand dinars in his sleeve and scattered them in his lap; and I saw the Prophet turning them over in his lap and saying twice, "`Uthman will not be injured by anything he does after to-day." Ahmad transmitted it.

When God's messenger gave orders for the oath of allegiance of God's good pleasure[*] `Uthman had gone to Mecca as God's messenger's messenger. Then when the people had taken the oath of allegiance God's messenger said, "`Uthman is engaged in God's business and in His messenger's business." He then struck one of his hands on the other, and God's messenger's hand on behalf of `Uthman was better than the people's hands on their own behalf. *The oath of allegiance al-Hudaibiya. Cf. Quran, 48:18 Tirmidhi transmitted it.

I was present at the house[*] when 'Uthman looked out on the people and said, "I adjure you by God and by Islam, are you aware that when God's messenger came to Medina and it had no water considered fresh but Bi'r Ruma, desiring that he and the Muslims might dip their buckets in it, he asked who would buy Bi'r Ruma for a better one in paradise, and I bought it from my capital? Yet you are preventing me from drinking of it to-day so that I have to drink salty water." When they swore by God that they were aware he said, "I adjure you by God and by Islam, are you aware that when the mosque became too small for the people God's messenger asked who would buy the plot of the family of so and so for a better one in paradise and add it to the mosque, and I bought it from my capital? Yet to-day you are preventing me from praying two rak'as in it." When they swore by God that they were aware he said, "I adjure you by God and by Islam, are you aware that I equipped the army of distress from my property?" When they swore by God that they were aware he said, "I adjure you by God and by Islam, are you aware that when God's messenger was on Thabir at Mecca accompanied by Abd Bakr, `Umar and me the mountain shook so that its stones were falling one after another to the ground below, so he kicked it with his foot and said, `Be still, Thabir, for there are only a prophet, a friend and two martyrs on you'?" When they swore by God that they were aware he said three times, "God is most great. They have testified by the Lord of the Ka'ba that I am a martyr." *`Uthman's house, when he was besieged during the revolt in which he was killed. Tirmidhi, Nasa'i and Daraqutni transmitted it.

I heard God's messenger when he mentioned the civil wars and their nearness; and when a man who was veiled by a garment passed by, he said, "On that day this man will be rightly guided." I got up and went to him and found he was `Uthman b. `Affan, then making him face the Prophet I asked if this was the man, and he replied, "Yes." Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying this is a hasan sahih tradition.

`A'isha reported the Prophet as saying, "Perhaps God will clothe you with a shirt, `Uthman, and if the people want you to take it off, do not take it off for them[*]." *Mirqat, 5:558, interprets this as referring to the Caliphate which he is told not to resign even though the people should wish him to abdicate. Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying the tradition contains a long story.

Ibn `Umar told that God's messenger mentioned a civil commotion and said of `Uthman, "This one will be wrongfully killed in it." Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan tradition whose isnad is gharib.

Abu Sahla told that `Uthman said to him on the day of the house, "God's messenger made a covenant with me and I shall show endurance in adhering to it." Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan sahih tradition.

`Uthman b. `Abdallah b. Mauhib told that a man who belonged to Egypt came with the purpose of making the pilgrimage to the House and saw some people seated. He asked who these people were and was told that they were Quraish. He asked who was shaikh among them, and when he was told that he was `Abdallah b. `Umar, he said, "I have a question to ask you, Ibn `Umar, so tell me. Do you know that `Uthman fled at the battle of Uhud?" He replied, "Yes." He asked, "Do you know that he was absent from Badr and failed to be present there?" He replied, "Yes." He asked, "Do you know that he was absent from the oath of allegiance of God's good pleasure and failed to be present there?" He replied, "Yes." The man said, "God is most great," and Ibn `Umar said, "Come and let me explain things to you. As for his flight at the battle of Uhud, I testify that God forgave him; as for his absence from Badr, he was married to God's messenger's daughter Ruqayya who was ill, and he was told by God's messenger that he would have the merit and the portion of a man who had been present at Badr; and as for his absence from the oath of allegiance of God's good pleasure, if there had been anyone more honourable than `Uthman in the valley of Mecca he would have sent him[*], but God's messenger sent `Uthman, and the oath of allegiance of God's good pleasure took place after `Uthman had gone to Mecca. God's messenger then said of his right hand, `This is `Uthman's hand,' and he struck his hands together saying, `This is for Uthman'." Ibn `Umar then said, `Go away now, and keep that with you." *When the Prophet came to al-Hadaibiya, he sent 'Uthman as an envoy to Mecca to explain that the Muslims desired to enter Mecca and perform the rites at the Ka'ba. 'Umar had begged to be excused from this duty as he had no influential friends in the city, and suggested that `Uthman was in a more favourable position in that respect. Bukhari transmitted it.

The Prophet began to tell `Uthman something in private and `Uthman's colour changed. On the day of the house, we asked him if he would not fight and he replied, "No, God's messenger charged me with something and I shall show endurance in adhering to it." Abu Habiba told that he entered the house when `Uthman was besieged in it and heard Abu Huraira asking `Uthman's permission to speak. He granted him permission, so he got up, praised and extolled God, then stated that he had heard God's messenger say, "After I am gone you will encounter civil strife and disagreement (or he said, disagreement and civil strife)." One of the people asked him, "To whom should we adhere, messenger of God?" or, "What do you command us to do? He replied, "Adhere to the commander and his companions," pointing at the same time to Uthman. Baihaqi transmitted the two traditions in Dala'il an-nubuwa

Anas told that the Prophet, Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman went up Uhud and when it quivered because of them the Prophet kicked it with his foot and said, "Keep steady, Uhud, for there are only a prophet, a friend and two martyrs on you." Bukhari transmitted it.

When I was with the Prophet in one of the gardens of Medina and a man came asking that the gate be opened, the Prophet said, "Open it for him and give him good news of paradise." I opened the gate for him and found He was Abu Bakr, and when I told him the good news God's messenger had given me, he praised God. Another man came and asked that the gate be opened, and the Prophet said, "Open it for him and give him good news of paradise." I opened the gate for him and found he was `Umar, and when I informed him for what the Prophet had said he praised God. Another man asked that the gate be opened, and he said, "Open it for him and give him good news of paradise after a trial which will afflict them." I found he was `Uthman, and when I informed him of what the Prophet had said he praised God and then said, "God is the One whose help is sought." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

When God's messenger was alive, we used to say, "Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman, God be pleased with them!" Tirmidhi transmitted it.

When we got up and left God's messenger, we said that the good man was God's messenger and that their being joined together meant that they were the rulers over the matter with which God had sent His Prophet. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Sa`d b. Abu Waqqas told that God's messenger said to `Ali, "You are in the same position with relation to me as Aaron was with relation to Moses; but there will be no prophet after me." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Zirr b. Hubaish told that `Ali said, "I swear by Him who split the grain and created the soul that the Gentile prophet assured me that only a believer would love me and only a hypocrite would hate, me." Muslim transmitted it.

`Imran b. Husain reported God's messenger as saying, "`Ali pertains to me and I pertain to him, and he is the guardian of every believer." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Zaid b. Arqam reported the Prophet as saying, "When I am anyone's patron 'Ali is his patron also." Ahmad and Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Hubshi b. Junada reported God's messenger as saying, "`Ali pertains to me and I pertain to `Ali, and no one will conclude anything on my behalf but myself or `Ali." Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Ahmad transmitted It on the authority of Abu Junada.

Ibn `Umar told that when God's messenger arranged brotherhoods among his companions `Ali came weeping and said, `You have arranged brotherhoods among your companions, but you have arranged no brotherhood between me and anyone." He replied, "You are my brother in this world and the next." Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan gharib tradition.

Anas told that the Prophet had a bird and said, "0 God, bring me Thy creature who is dearest to Thee to eat this bird along with me." `Ali then came and ate along with him. Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition.

"When I asked God's messenger for anything he gave it to me, and when I said nothing, he was the first to speak*." *Or it may mean that he gave something without being asked. Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan gharib tradition.

He reported God's messenger as saying, "I am the house of wisdom and `Ali is its door." Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition, adding that some transmit this tradition on Sharik's authority without mentioning regarding it that it is transmitted on as-Sunabihl's authority. He said the only reliable authority from whom he knew this tradition was Sharik.

"On the day God's messenger sent `Ali to at-Ta'if he called him and spoke in private to him." The people said, "He has had a long private conversation with his cousin," and God's messenger replied "It was not I but God who had a private conversation with him." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Abu Sa'id told that God's messenger said to `Ali, "It is not allowable, `Ali, for anyone but you or me to be in a state of ceremonial impurity in this mosque." `Ali b. al-Mundhir told that be asked Dirar b. Surad what was the meaning of this tradition, and he replied that the meaning was, "It is not allowable for anyone but you or me to walk through it in a state of ceremonial impurity." Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan gharib tradition.

Umm `Atiya told that God's messenger sent off an army of which `Ali was a member, and that she heard God's messenger say with his arms upraised, "0 God, do not cause me to die before Thou lettest me see `Ali." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Umm Salama reported God's messenger as saying, "A hypocrite does not love `Ali and a believer does not hate him." Ahmad and Tirmidhi transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying this is a hasan tradition whose isnad is gharib.

She reported God's messenger as saying, "He who reviles `Ali has reviled me." Ahmad transmitted it.

`Ali told that God's messenger said to him, "You have a resemblance to Jesus whom the Jews hated so much that they slandered his mother and whom the Christians loved so much that they placed him in a position not rightly his." `Ali afterwards said, "Two people will perish on my account, one who loves me so excessively that he praises me for what I do not possess, and one who hates me so much that he will be impelled by his hatred to slander me." Ahmad transmitted it.

Al-Bara bin Azib and Zaid b. Arqam told that when God's Messenger alighted at the pool of Khumm[1] he took `Ali by the hand and asked those present, "Do you not know that I am closer to the believers than they themselves[2]?"and they replied, "Certainly." He then asked, "Do you not know that I am nearer to every believer than he himself?" and they replied, "Certainly." He then said, "0 God, he whose patron I am has `Ali as his patron. 0 God, be friendly to those who are friendly to him and hostile to those who are hostile to him." After that `Umar met him and said, "Congratulations, son of Abu Talib. Morning and evening you are the patron of every believing man and woman." Near al-Juhfa, a place four stages from Mecca on the way to Medina. cf. Quran, 33:6. Ahmad transmitted it.

Buraida told that Abu Bakr and `Umar asked Fatima's hand in marriage, but God's messenger said, "She is young." Then `Ali asked her hand in marriage and he married her to him. N asa'i transmitted it.

Ibn `Abbas told that God's messenger ordered all the doors [opening on the mosque] to be shut except `Ali's. Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition.

I had a position in relation to God's messenger which no other creature had. I would come to him at the break of day and say, "Peace be upon you, prophet of God." If he then cleared his throat I went off to my family, otherwise I entered. Nasa'i transmitted it.

God's messenger came upon me when I had a complaint and was saying, "O God, if my appointed time has come grant me rest, if it is to be delayed grant me abundant means of subsistence, but if this is a testing grant me endurance." God's messenger asked him how he had expressed himself, and when he repeated to him what he had said, he gave him a kick and said, "O God, heal him," or, "cure him. The transmitter was doubtful about the exact words. He said that he did not afterwards complain of his pain. Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan sahih tradition.

Ibn `Umar said no one was more worthy of the Caliphate than those persons with whom God's messenger was pleased at the time of his death, and he named 'Ali, `Uthman, az-Zubair, Talha, Sa'd and `Abd ar-Rahman. Bukhari transmitted it.

Qais b. Abu Hazim told that he saw Talha's hand with which he had protected the Prophet at the battle of Uhud withered. Bukhari transmitted it.

Jabir reported the Prophet as saying at the battle of the Confederates, ``Who will bring me information about the people?" When az Zubair said, ``I will," he said, ``Every prophet has a sincere friend, and mine is az-Zubair." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

When God's messenger asked, ``Who will go to the B. Quraiza and bring me news of them?" I went, and when I returned, he named his parents together for me saying, ``My father and my mother be your ransom!" (Bukhari and Muslim.)

`Ali said he heard the Prophet name his parents together for no one but Sa'd b. Malik, for he had heard him say at the battle of Uhud, ``Shoot, Sa'd, my father and my mother be your ransom!" (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Sa'd b. Abu Waqqas said he was the first Arab to shoot an arrow in God's path. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

When God's messenger arrived in Medina, he was wakeful one night and said, "Would that a good man would guard me!" We then heard the sound of weapons, and when he asked who was there Sa'd replied that it was he. He asked what had brought him and he replied, "Fear for God's messenger occurred to me, so I came to guard him. Invoking a blessing on him, God's messenger then went to sleep. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Anas reported God's messenger as saying, "Every people has a faithful man, and the faithful man of this people is Abu `Ubaida b. al-Jarrah." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Ibn Abu Mulaika told that when `A'isha was asked whom God's messenger would have appointed successor if he had appointed one, he heard her say it would have been Abu Bakr. She was asked who it would have been after Abu Bakr and replied that it would have been `Umar. She was asked who it would have been after `Umar and replied that it would have been Abu `Ubaida b. al-Jarrah. Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Huraira told that when God's messenger, Abu Bakr, `Umar, `Uthman, `Ali, Talha and az-Zubair were on Hira' the rock shook and God's messenger said, "Be still, for only a prophet, or a friend, or a martyr is on you. "Some added the name of Sa`d b. Abu Waqqas and did not mention `Ali". Muslim transmitted it.

`Abd ar-Rahm an b. `Auf reported the Prophet as saying, "Abu Bakr will go to paradise, `Umar will go to paradise, 'Uthman will go to paradise, `Ali will go to paradise, Talha will go to paradise, az-Zubair will go to paradise, `Abd ar-Rahm an b. `Auf will go to paradise, Sa'd b. Aba Waqqas will go to paradise, Sa'id b. Zaid will go to paradise, and Abu `Ubaida b. al-Jarrah will go to paradise.'' Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Ibn Majah transmitted it on the authority of Sa'id b. Zaid.

Anas reported the Prophet as saying, "The most compassionate member of my people towards my people is Aba Bakr, the most rigorous regarding God's affair is `Umar, the most genuinely modest is `Uthman, the one who knows most about obligatory duties is Zaid b. Thabit, the one who knows best how to recite the Qur'an is Ubayy b. Ka b, and the one who has most knowledge about what is lawful and what is prohibited is Mu`adh b. Jabal. Every people has a trustworthy guardian, and the trustworthy guardian of this people is Abu `Ubaida b. al Jarrah. Ahmad and Tirmidhi transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying this is a hasan sahih tradition. It is also transmitted in mursal form, on the authority of Ma'mar who cited Qatada as his authority, and it contains the phrase "The most learned in legal matters is `Ali."

At the battle of Uhud the Prophet was wearing two coats of mail. He got up to go to the rock but was unable to climb up, so Talha let him step on his back and thus he was able to settle himself on the rock. I heard God's messenger say, "Talha has made [paradise certain for himself]." Tirmidhi transmitted it.