8. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ‘ Abd Allah ibn ‘Uthman from a man who has narrated the following:

“Abu ‘Abd Allah , has said that in the time of the government of Ali , a man from the mountains with his slave went for al-Hajj. His slave committed a sin and his master beat him as a measure for discipline. He (the slave) said, ‘You are not my master. I am your master.’ They continued threatening each other. He told him, ‘Wait until our arrival in al-Kufah, O enemy of Allah, and I will take you before Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali .’ When they arrived in al-Kufah, they came to ’Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali , and the one who had beaten the slave said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep you well, this is my slave. He committed a sin and I beat him for discipline but he jumped on me.’ The other one said, ‘He by Allah is my slave. My father sent him for me for guidance but he jumped on me to claim and take away my assets.’ They each began to swear and the other to refute. He (the Imam) told them to leave for the night, be truthful and come to me with the truth. The next day ’Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali , asked Qanbar to make two holes in the wall. He (the Imam) said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali , in the morning would remain reciting prayer after his morning Salat (prayer) until the sun would rise by the length of a spear. The two men then came and people gathered. They said that there is a case like no other case before him (the Imam), it is difficult and he (the Imam) may not be able to solve it. He (the Imam) then asked them, ‘What do you say?’ Each one swore and claimed that the other man is his slave. He (the Imam) then told them, ‘You both stand up. I do not think you are speaking the truth.’ He then told one of them to place his neck in the hole in the wall and pull out his head from the other side. Then he told the other one to do the same thing. He (the Imam) said, ‘O Qanbar, bring for me the sword of the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, quickly and of the two strike down the neck of the slave one.’ He (the Imam) said that the slave quickly pulled his head out of the hole. Ali , asked him (slave), ‘Did you not think that you were not a slave?’ The other one remained with his head in the hole. He then said, ‘Yes, but he beat me up and transgressed against me.’ He (the Imam) said that ’Amir al- Mu’minin, Ali , prepared a document for him and handed over the slave to him (the slave-master).”’