8. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn abu ‘Abd Allah from Muhammad ibn Ali from Ali ibn Khattab al-Hallal from al-‘ Ala’ ibn Razin who has said the following:

“Abu ‘Abd Allah , once said to me, ‘O ‘Ala’, do you know what was the first tree that grew on earth?’ I replied, ‘Allah, His Messenger and the child of His Messenger know best. He (the Imam) said, ‘It was al-‘Ajwah. What is pure is al-‘Ajwah (a certain kind of date) and whatever is other than this they are only of the similar one’s.’”