Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA)

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was neither very tall nor very short. He was of medium stature. His hair was neither curly nor straight — it had a slight wave. He had a large head. His face was white tinged with redness. He had large black eyes with very long eyelashes. He had a wide chest, and the gap between his shoulders was wide. His hands and feet were large. When he walked, he lifted his feet with vigor, as though walking downhill. When he turned to speak to someone, he turned his whole body.”

“On the Day of Khaybar, the Prophet ﷺ said: Tomorrow I will give the flag to a man through whose hands Allah will grant victory — a man who loves Allah and His Messenger, and whom Allah and His Messenger love. That night the people speculated about who it would be. In the morning they came to the Prophet ﷺ each hoping it would be him. He called for Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA), who came though he was suffering from sore eyes. The Prophet ﷺ applied his saliva to his eyes and they were healed. He gave Ali the flag and Allah granted victory through him.”

“Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA) used to hire himself out to work with his hands — drawing water from wells and doing agricultural labor — to earn money for his family when they were in need. He once worked irrigating a Jewish man's garden, receiving one date per bucket of water he drew, and came home to the Prophet ﷺ with a handful of dates from his labor.”

“Let the merchant and the craftsman be held in high regard and recommended good conduct for them. Know that most of them are miserly by nature, hoarding goods, and creating harmful monopolies. This is a source of harm to the public. Prevent monopoly, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade it. Let trade be easy and let the scales be just.”

“Fatimah (RA) complained to the Prophet ﷺ about the hardship of hand-grinding flour. Ali said: I came with her to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him for a servant. He said: Shall I not tell you of something better than what you have asked for? When you go to bed, say Subhanallah thirty-three times, Alhamdulillah thirty-three times, and Allahu Akbar thirty-four times. That is better for you than a servant. Ali said: I never abandoned this after the Prophet ﷺ taught it to us. Someone asked: Not even on the night of Siffin? He said: Not even on the night of Siffin.”

“Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA) asked for the hand of Abu Jahl's daughter while married to Fatimah (RA). When Fatimah heard this, she went to the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ stood up and said: Fatimah is a part of me. Whatever distresses her distresses me. I will not permit Ali to marry another woman while Fatimah lives, unless he divorces Fatimah first. So Ali abandoned the proposal.”

“Ali (RA) lost his armor and later found it in the possession of a Jewish man selling it in the market. He brought the matter before the judge Shurayh, saying: This armor is mine. I did not sell it or give it away. Shurayh said: Do you have a witness? Ali said: Yes — my son Hasan. Shurayh said: A son's testimony for his father is not admissible. Ali accepted the ruling without protest and left. The Jewish man was so moved by this that he said: The Commander of the Believers brings me before his own judge and the judge rules against him — I bear witness that this is the truth. He then returned the armor and accepted Islam.”

“By Allah, I would rather spend the night in wakefulness on thorns of sa'dan (a thorny plant) and be dragged in chains of iron than meet Allah and His Messenger having oppressed any of His servants or having seized anything from the goods of this world. How can I oppress anyone for a body that is fading quickly toward old age and that must remain for a long time under the ground?”

“It is narrated that Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA) would tremble when the time of prayer approached. He was asked about this and said: The time has come for a trust that Allah presented to the heavens and the earth and the mountains and they refused to bear it — but the human being bore it. And I do not know whether I will carry out this trust well or not.”

“O Allah, I ask You by Your mercy which encompasses all things; by Your strength by which You overpower all things and submit to it all things; by Your might against which nothing stands; by Your greatness which has filled all things; by Your authority which is exalted above all things; by Your face which subsists after the annihilation of all things — forgive me my sins which have torn away the veils of modesty before You.”

“It is narrated that Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA) used to wear simple, worn garments and patch them himself. He said: I am ashamed before Allah to put on the garments of splendor while around me there are those who cannot cover themselves.”

“It is narrated that Ali (RA) would often spend long hours in the night reciting Quran in prayer, and that those who stayed near his house in Kufa could hear his recitation long after people had gone to sleep. On some nights he was heard reciting until dawn.”