Every day he used to raise the flags of good morals for me...

Every day he used to raise the flags of good morals for me and used to order me to follow them!”[1] This upbringing played such a role in the development of his personality that he was a replica of the Prophet (a.s) in morals, knowledge and action and was recognized as the reflection of his mentor’s qualities and excellence. Therefore, because of Divine Blessing and the august company of the Prophet (a.s), `Ali (a.s) was endowed with extraordinary qualities.

In his own words, Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s) has described thus: “In my chest is the knowledge that has been fed to me as bird feeds its little ones!” This allegory of `Ali (a.s) has lot of meaning and delicacy in it. As a bird, feeds the food stored in its beak to its off spring, the Prophet (a.s) transmitted all the knowledge, be it on Shari`ah, wisdom, Qur’an, Sunnah, Morals and statesmanship, evident and hidden, current or past, to `Ali’s chest.

After completion of this training the Prophet (a.s) said, “I am the city of Knowledge and `Ali is its Gate!” The Prophet (a.s) very clearly indicated now that anyone desirous of acquiring his knowledge had compulsorily to go through `Ali (a.s). Is not it a fact that entry to any city has to be made through its gate! `Ali (a.s) is a personality whose knowledge is directly acquired from his mentor, the Prophet (a.s), and the Prophet’s knowledge is the direct Endowment from Allah!