Narrated to us my father and Muhammad bin Hasan -May Allah be pleased with them - they said: Narrated to us Saad bin Abdullah and Muhammad bin Yahya al-Attar and Ahmad bin Idrees, all of them from Ahmad bin Abi Abdullah Barqi and Yaqoob bin Yazid and Ibrahim bin Hashim, all of them from ibn Faddal from Aymun bin Muhriz Hadhrami from Muhammad bin Sama-a Kindi from Ibrahim bin Abi Yahya Madyani from Abi Abdullah that he said:

After the death of Abu Bakr when people paid allegiance to Umar, a young Jew came to him in the Masjid and greeted him, while people also sat around Umar. The young man from the Jews said: O chief of believers, who among you is most knowledgeable regarding the Sunnah of your Prophet and the Book of your Lord? Guide me to him. Umar pointed out towards Ali ibn Abi Talib . The Jew turned to Ali and said: O Ali, are you such? He replied: Yes. The Jew said: I have three, three and one question. Ali said: Why don’t you say that you have seven questions? He replied: No, if you reply the first three questions correctly I will ask the remaining. But if you answer the first three questions wrongly, I will not ask any more questions. Ali said: If I reply correctly do you have the capability to understand that it is right? That young man was a Rabbi and in the view of the Jews he was a descendant of Harun bin Imran, the brother of Musa . He said: Yes.

Amirul Momineen said: You swear by Allah, besides whom there is no deity, that if I reply to your questions correctly you will embrace Islam and give up Judaism. The Jew took the oath and said: I am in search of truth and submission. Ali said: You may ask so that you may be informed. He said: Which was the first tree that grew on the earth? Which was the first spring of water that gushed out on the earth? And which was the first stone to come down to the earth?

Ali said: Jews say that the first tree that grew on the earth is olive. It is a lie. The first tree is Ajwa dates that came down with Adam and his wife. It is from which all the date trees have grown. As for your question about the first spring that burst forth on the earth, Jews think that it is the spring of Baitul Maqdas. You lie. The first spring is that in which the companion of Musa forgot the salted fish and when the water of the spring of life reached it, it became alive. And there is no dead that comes in contact with the water of this spring but it becomes alive. Khizr was leading the expedition of Dhulqarnain which was searching for this spring. He found it and drank from it and Dhulqarnain could not find it.

As for your question that which is the first stone that came to the earth, the Jews think that it is the stone of Baitul Maqdas. It is a lie. The first stone is the Black Stone that which came with Prophet Adam from Paradise. Which he placed at the Rukn of the House of Allah where people kiss it. It was initially whiter than snow but due to the sins of human beings it has become black. The Jews asked: Tell me, how many guiding and guided Imams are there in this nation, whose opponents cannot harm their Imamate? What is the place of Muhammad in Paradise? And who all from the Ummah will stay with him in his house in Paradise?

Ali said: As for your question that how many guiding and guided Imams are there in this nation, whose opponents cannot harm their Imamate, there are twelve Imams in this nation and each of them is guided and the guiding. And their enemies cannot do them any harm. As for your question that what is the place of Muhammad in Paradise? Well, his place is the best and most respectable in Paradise, that is the Adn Paradise. As for your question that who all from the Ummah will stay with him in his house in Paradise? It is the same twelve guiding Imams.

The young man said: By Allah, You are right. Ali said: The house of Muhammad ﷺ in Paradise is in the Jannat of Adn. It is at the center of Paradise and nearest to the throne of the Beneficent. The Jews said: By Allah, You are right. Ali said: And those who will stay with him in his house are the twelve Imams. The Jew said: By Allah, besides whom there is no god, you are right. It is just as mentioned in the scroll dictated by Musa and written by the hand of Harun .

Then he asked: For how many years will the successor of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ live? Would he have a natural death or will be murdered? Ali replied: Woe be unto you, O Jew, I am the successor of Muhammad ﷺ and I would live for thirty years after him. Neither a day less nor a day more. This will be dyed with this. Saying this he pointed towards his beard and his blessed head.

The narrator says: At that moment the Jew got up from his place and said: I bear witness that there is no god, except Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah and you are the successor of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then a man who shall be more wretched than the killer of the she-camel of Prophet Salih , would strike my head due to which my beard will be dyed in my blood. After that he wept much. The Jew youth came forward and said: I testify that there is no god, except Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah \[and you are the successor of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ]. Abu Ja’far Abadi said: In a marfu tradition – that the Imam said: All the people of Medina confess that this boy was the most knowledgeable among the Jews like his father.