9. Ali ibn Muhammad and Muhammad ibn al-Hassan have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad and Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father and Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad all from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn abu Nasr from ‘Abd al-Karim who has said the following: “I once asked abu ‘Abdillah عليه السلام, about Wudu’. He (the Imam) said, ‘Wudu’ of Ali عليه السلام, was once (washing of face and hands) and once (wiping of head and feet).’”
This is evidence that ablution is only "once and once", because he صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم whenever faced two matters, both of which were in obedience of Allah, he would take the more cautious and more intense of the two for his body. Indeed, what has come from them (i.e. the Imams عليه السلام) is that he said, 'Ablution is twice. It is for the one who is not satisfied with it once, and he adds to it, then he says twice.' Then he said, 'And whoever adds more than twice will not be rewarded, and this is the utmost limit in ablution. Whoever exceeds it is sinful and does not have ablution. It is like someone who prays five units in Dhuhr, and had he عليه السلام not made it clear that it should only be made twice, it would have led the way to (washing) three (times)’. It is narrated about a man who had with him an amount of water equal to a handful, and the prayer was imminent. He said, 'So he divided it into three parts: one-third for the face, one-third for the right hand, and one-third for the left hand. He wiped his head and his feet with the remainder.'