Alis Virtues Before His Birth

Section Two
The orator of Khawarizm quoting `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud has reported that the Holy Prophet (s.a) said: O `Abdullah! An angel came to me carrying a message from God who said: O Muhammad! Ask the prophets coming before you what they commissioned for? I said: You say what they were commissioned for? He answered: The very essence of their mission is based on the Wilayah of you and `Ali ibn Abi-Talib.[24]

Section Three
The holy name of `Ali has been written on the divine throne.
Khawarizmi has reported `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud on the authority of the Holy Prophet (s.a) as saying:  When God created the universe and Adam and blew in him His spirit, Adam sneezed and began to praise Allah immediately. God said: My servant! Now that you praised me, by My glory, were if not for the sake of two of my servants, I would never have created you. Adam said: O God! Are those two worthy servants from my issue? God said: Yes. Now raise your hand and behold what you see. Adam opened his eyes towards heaven and saw an inscription reading: There is no god but Allah and Muhammad (the prophet of mercy) is His Messenger and `Ali is Allah’s proof for the people. Whoever recognizes `Ali’s right, he is pure inwardly and whoever denies his right will be deprived from my mercy and will suffer. I swear by My glory that whoever obeys `Ali, I will give him a place in heaven even if he is sinful and by My glory, if anyone disobeys him, I will punish him with fire even if he has obeyed me.[25]

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Jabir ibn `Abdullah has reported the Holy Prophet (s.a) as having said: Two thousand years before the creation of heavens and the earth, there was an inscription on the gate of heaven reading: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and `Ali ibn Abi-Talib is his brother.[26]
There is a Hadith in Manaqib in which the Holy Prophet has been quoted as saying: Gabriel came to me while he had spread his two wings. On one wing there was the inscription: There is no god but Allah, Muhammad in His messenger and on the other wing, there was the inscription: There is no god but Allah, `Ali is Muhammad’s successor.[27]
In Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the Holy Prophet (s.a) has been quoted by Jabir as having said: Before the creation of the heavens and the earth, there was the following inscription on the gate of paradise: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and `Ali is the brother of the Messenger of Allah.[28]

Section Four
There are narrations in which the Holy Prophet (s.a) has said: I and `Ali are of the same light.
Salman has quoted the Holy Prophet (s.a) as having said: I and `Ali were light in the presence of God casting light on the world of creation. This light glorified God fourteen thousand years before the creation of Adam and when God Almighty created Adam, this light was transferred to his loin and in the long period between us and Adam, we were in the pure loins till we were separated in the loin of `Abd al-Muttalib into two parts. One part was me and the other was `Ali.[29]
Salman has also reported the Holy Prophet (s.a) as having said: I and `Ali were a single light before God. Fourteen thousand years before the creation of Adam, when God created Adam, He placed this light in his loin. Then this light was divided into two, part of this light was placed in `Abdullah’s loin and the other part was placed in Abu-Talib’s loin. Therefore, `Ali is from me and I am from `Ali. His flesh is my flesh and his blood is my blood.  Hence, whoever loves `Ali is because he loves me and whoever is hostile to him is my enemy.

  Section Five
Adam has resorted to `Ali as mentioned in the Torah.
Khawarizmi has reported Ibn `Abbas who asked the Holy Prophet (s.a) about the words that Adam received from God and he repented thereby. The Holy Prophet (s.a) answered: Adam asked God to accept his repentance through the station of Muhammad, `Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn. God Almighty too accepted Adam’s repentance and restored his position in honor of those holy persons.

`Ali’s Virtues At Creation And Birth

`Ali (a.s) was born on 13th of Rajab, thirty years after the year of the Elephant in Ka`bah. This virtue belongs only to him, for no one was ever born in Ka`bah except him neither in the past nor in the future.
The author of Basha’ir al-Mustafa has reported Yazid ibn Qa`nab as saying: I and `Abbas ibn `Abd al-Muttalib and a group of the tribe of `Abd al-`Uzza were sitting near Ka`bah when we saw Fatimah Bint Asad, the mother of Amir al-Mu`minin while she was nine months pregnant and signs of delivery were manifest in her, came from afar raising her hands in prayer and saying: O Lord! I believe in You, Your Messengers and their books while accepting as truth the words of the prophet Ibrahim (a.s) who rebuilt this house. O Lord! I ask You through the one who built this house and the one I have in my womb to make the hardship of his birth easy for me.
Yazid ibn Qa`nab says: I saw the wall of Ka`bah was opened and Fatimah went inside it and the wall returned to its former state. The group of people who were sitting there rose up to unlock the door but it was not opened. We inferred that the wall had been opened on the order of the Lord and that it was a favor God had done to that lady and her son. Three days passed and on the fourth day, Fatimah carrying the new-born infant in her hands came out of Ka`bah, saying: Beyond doubt, I am superior to the believing women of former times, for Asiyah, the daughter of Muzahim, worshipped God secretly and God did not like to be worshipped except under necessity that is in Pharaoh’s house which was the cradle of atheism and oppression.

Mary, the daughter of `Imran, too came out of the mosque of Jerusalem and her place of worship on the order of Lord and then gave birth to Jesus (a.s) eating fresh date from a dry palm-tree. However, I entered Ka`bah on the order of Lord and fed on heavenly fruits. After delivery too when I intended to come out of Ka`bah, an invisible caller told me to name the auspicious infant `Ali, for Allah the most High says: I name him after My own name, reared him with special rearing, making him aware of My own profound knowledge. It is he who, in a near future, will clean My house from idols, will break them, and will declare the rule of one God on the roof of My house. He will glorify Me. Happy is one who loves him and obeys his orders and ill-fated is one who is hostile to him and disobeys his orders.[30]
The narrator says: When `Ali was born, the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.a) was thirty years old. The Holy Prophet loved him greatly and asked his mother, Fatimah to place `Ali’s cradle near his bed.
The Messenger of Allah was personally in charge of bringing up `Ali. He bathed `Ali with his own hands and fed him and rocked his cradle at sleep time. When `Ali was awake, the Holy Prophet (s.a) would speak to him and put him on his chest, saying: This dear infant is my brother, guardian, supporter, asset, the chosen one, my son-in-law, successor, the husband of my daughter, my trustworthy, and the caliph after me. The Messenger of Allah would always put `Ali on his shoulders and took him to mountains of Mecca so as to be engaged in prayer away from the eyes of the idol-worshippers.

Virtues are sometimes acquired for a person due to deeds and their consequences and at other times it has no relation with his deeds. What is discussed in this chapter concerns `Ali’s acquired virtues as mentioned by the narrators. These acquired virtues are sometimes related to `Ali’s spiritual aspect and personality or it is related to his physical aspect.