My father narrated to us. He said: Sa`d b. `Abdullah narrated to us from al-Haytham b. Abi Masruq al-Nahdi from al-Husayn b. `Alwan from `Amr b. Thabit from his father from Sa`d b. Turayf from al-Asbagh b. Nubata. He said:

Amir al-Mu’minin said one day on the pulpit of Kufa: I am the Master of Deputies and the Deputy of the Master of Prophets. I am the Imam of the Muslims, the Leader of the Pious, the Master of the Believers, and the husband of the Mistress of the Women of the Worlds. I am the one who wears a ring on the right hand; [the one] whose forehead is dusty. I am the one who made the two exoduses (to Medina and to Kufa), and I am the one who gave the two pledges of allegiance (`Aqaba and Ridwan). I am the patron of Badr and Hunayn. I am the one who strikes with two swords, riding on two horses (horse-after-horse). I am the inheritor of the knowledge of the former peoples and the Proof of Allah over humanity after the prophets and Muhammad b. `Abdullah (s), the Seal of Prophets. My allies will receive mercy, and my enemies are damned. My Beloved, the Messenger of Allah (s), would frequently say to me: “O `Ali! Loving you is God-wariness and faith, and hating you is disbelief and hypocrisy. I am the House of Wisdom and you are its key. Whoever claims to love me while hating you is a liar.”