The Eighteenth Assembly, which is Tuesday, the Nineteenth of the Month of Ramadan, 367 AH.

`Ali b. al-Fadl b. al-`Abbas al-Baghdadi, a shaykh for the people of hadith narrated to us. He said: Abu’l Hasan `Ali b. Ibrahim informed us. He said: Abu Ja`far Muhammad b. Ghalib b. Harb al-Dabi al-Tamtami and Abu Ja`far Muhammad b. `Uthman b. Abi Shayba narrated to us. They said: Yahya b. Salim and the cousin of al-Hasan b. Salih – and the latter was preferred – narrated to us. He said: Mus`ar narrated to us from `Atiyya form Jabir. He said: The Messenger of Allah (s) said: On the gate of Paradise, it was written “There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, `Ali is the brother of the Messenger of Allah” two thousand years before Allah created the heavens and the Earth.

I said: Muhammad b. `Ali b. Khalaf al-`Attar narrated to us. He said: Husayn al-Ashqar narrated to us. He said: `Amr b. Abi’l Miqdam narrated to us from his father from Sa`id b. Jubayr from Ibn `Abbas. He said: The Prophet (s) was asked about the words that Adam received from his Lord by which He forgave him. He said: He asked Him “by the right of Muhammad, `Ali, Fatima, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn, forgive me.” So, He forgave him.

I asked `A’isha about `Ali b. Abi Talib (as), so she said: That is the best of people; no one disputes that except a disbeliever.

That is the best of people; no one disputes that except a hypocrite.

`Ali b. Abi Talib is the best of the people; whoever disagrees has disbelieved.

I saw Jabir leaning on his staff, and he was going around the pathways and gatherings of the Ansar, saying: `Ali is the best of people; whoever disagrees has disbelieved. O Ansar! Raise your children on the love of `Ali; if one refuses, then look to the affair of his mother.

My father `Ali b. Abi Talib (as) narrated to me. He said: The Prophet (s) said to me: You are the best of people, and no one will have doubt regarding you except a disbeliever.

I was given ten [characteristics] by the Messenger of Allah (s). He did not give them to anyone before me nor after me. He said to me: O `Ali! You are my brother in this world and the Hereafter. Among the people, you will be the nearest to me in position on the Day of Resurrection. My house and your house will face one another in Paradise, like two brothers. You are the deputy, and you are the friend [of Allah]. You are the vizier. Your enemies are my enemies, and my enemies are the enemies of Allah. Your friends are my friends, and my friends are the friends of Allah.

We were sitting in a gathering in the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah (s), and we mentioned the deeds of the people of Badr and the Allegiance of Ridwan. So, Abu’l Darda’ said: O people! Shall I not inform you of him who has the least wealth and the most piety, who strives hardest in worship? They said: Who? He said: `Ali b. Abi Talib (as). He said: By Allah, among the people of the gathering, all of them had disagreement written on their faces. Then, a man from the Ansar was chosen [to speak on their behalf], and he said to him: O `Uwaymir! You have said something that not one person agreed with. So, Abu’l Darda’ said: O people! I am saying what I have seen, and every people among you will say what they saw. By the scalps of carpenters! I have witnessed `Ali b. Abi Talib (as) – when he left his followers and disappeared from them and concealed himself by the streams of the palm trees – I lost him, and he became far from me. I said [to myself]: “He went to his house.” Then, I came across a sorrowful voice and a mellow tone saying: “My God! How many perils have you alleviated from me and repelled by Your blessing? How many offenses have You concealed by Your kindness? My God! If I persist in disobeying You over the course of my life, and my sins become great in the books, then I have no hope without Your forgiveness, nor will I hope for anything except Your pleasure.” The voice concerned me, so, I sought it out, and I came across `Ali b. Abi Talib (as). So, I concealed him, and I eased my movement. He bowed in the dead of night, then he broke into prayers, tears, calling out and lamenting. Among what he whispered to Allah, he said: “My God! I think about Your forgiveness, and my errors become trivial. Then, I think abut the greatness of Your chastisement, and my distress weighs over on me.” Then, he said: “Oh, if I read about a sin in my record, I forget about it, whilst You tally it. So, it is said, ‘take him [into punishment].’ He who is taken will not be saved by his kinsmen, nor will he be helped by his tribe; but the Master will have mercy on him if He permits.” Then, he said: “Oh, [save me] from a Fire that dries out the livers and kidneys; oh, from a Fire that scalps the heads; oh, from submersion into a fiery blaze.” He said: Then, he prolonged his weeping. Then, I did not hear any movement coming from him, so, I said: “He has been overcome by sleep due to his long vigil. He will awake for Fajr prayer.” Abu’l Darda’ said: So, I came to him, and he was like an abandoned log. I tried to move him, but he would not move. I held him in a grip, but he did not respond thusly. So, I said: “We belong to Allah, and to Him we will return. By Allah, `Ali b. Abi Talib has died.” He said: So, I went to his house and I immediately called out to them. So, Fatima (sa) said: “O Aba’l Darda’! What is his story?” So, I informed her about what had happened, then, she said: “By Allah, Aba’l Darda’, this is a trance that overtakes him from his humility before Allah.” Then, I took water to him, and I sprinkled it onto his face. He awoke, and he looked at me whilst I was weeping. So, he said: “What has caused you to weep, O Aba’l Darda’?” So, I said: “What I have seen you do to yourself.” So, he said: “O Aba’l Darda’! So how would you be if you had seen my Lord call me to Judgment, and the criminals have been sent to punishment, and I am left by the tormenting, ruthless angels, and I stand before the angel of the Powerful – I receive peace from my lovers, and the people of this world have mercy on me – yet, the best mercy for me will be before Him who does not hide it from me!” So, Abu’l Darda’ said: So, by Allah, I did not see that in any of the companions of the Messenger of Allah (s).

I heard my father ask Aba `Abdillah al-Sadiq (as): When does Maghrib time begin? So, he said: When its seat disappears. He said: What is its seat? He said: Its disk. He said: When does its disk disappear? He said: If you look to it, you do not see it.

Al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad (as) said: When the Sun disappears, then Maghrib time has begun.

I climbed the mountain of Abi Qubays, and the people were praying Maghrib, yet I saw that the Sun had not set, but rather it was hidden behind the mountain from the people. So, I met Aba `Abdillah al-Sadiq (as), and I informed him of that. So, he said to me: Why did you do that? Woe to what you did. Rather, pray [even] if you do not see it [and it is] behind a mountain, whether it has [fully] set, so long that it is not covered by a cloud or darkened by a darkness. Surely, you must take to your [own] sunrise and sunset [from your own perspective]; and the people do not have to go searching.

I said to Abi `Abdillah (as) regarding Maghrib: We prayed, but we fear that the Sun was behind the mountain, and that the mountain had hid it from us. So, he said: You do not need to climb the mountain.

I heard Aba `Abdillah (as) say: The Messenger of Allah (s) would pray Maghrib and a group of the Ansar called Banu Salama would pray with him. Their houses were in the middle of a slope. They would pray with him, then they would go back to their homes, while still being able to see where their arrows would fall (i.e. there would still be enough light at the time to see where an arrow would land after it is shot).

I heard him say: A man accompanied me, and he would delay Maghrib and pray Fajr early while I would pray Maghrib when the Sun set and pray Fajr when dawn would appear. So, the man said to me: What prevents you from doing as I do? Surely, the Sun rises over a people before us, and it sets for us while it is still above others. He said: So, I said: Surely, it is only incumbent upon us to pray when the Sun sets for us, and when dawn rises for us – this is all that is incumbent upon us – and they should pray when it sets for them.

We proceeded from Mecca until we reached the Ajfar valley, where we came across a man who was praying. We saw the rays of the Sun, so we felt angry. He was praying whilst we were supplicating against him. He prayed one unit whilst we were supplicating against him; we were saying: He is from the youth of the people of the Medina. When we came to him, it turned out that he was Abu `Abdillah Ja`far b. Muhammad (as). So, we descended and prayed with him. We had missed one unit; so, when we completed the prayer, we stood and went to him, saying: May we be your sacrifice! Is this the time that you pray? So, he said: Once the Sun sets, then the time has begun.