Our Prophet then required from Ali...

Our Prophet then required from Ali, to respect the custom of giving a dowry to his daughter. Ali had to determine the sum of money that he wished to give to his wife to be… Ali began to enumerate his very limited possessions and said:” All I have is one sword, one camel that helps me bring out water from the well, and one armor…” Our Prophet answered:” Go my son, and sell your armor.

Then you could procure the sum of my daughter’s dowry.” Ali sold his armor at 480 dirhams, and then came back quickly to give this sum to our Prophet, and to submit himself to his wishes for further demands. Our Prophet took a small sum of it to buy some possessions for their home [ Ali and Fâtemeh’s ], he also took a small portion of it to buy some perfume for her daughter, and to buy some things for the wedding night.

The list of this simple dowry, is as follows : A dress at the price of 7 Dirham A fabric at the price of 4 Dirham A black towel from Kheybar A bed, woven with palm leaves Two cotton mattresses: one made of palm leaves The other one from sheep’s wool Four leather pillows A woolen curtain A simple bed A manual mill A leather goatskin [ water skin ] A wooden bowl A bowl for milking A bowl for drinking water A green pitcher Some earthen pots and jars When those ho had bought these things, came back home, they showed them all to our Prophet and he said:” May God bestow from His Heavenly Provisions to this family…” And then the vows of marriage took place… A month passed by, without Ali having the courage to take his bride to his home.

Ali went everyday to the mosque, but with no result… Finally, one of the most respected wives of our Prophet said sympathetically to Ali:” Do you wish me to ask respectfully from our Prophet, to grant you the permission to take your bride to your home? “ Ali joyously and gratefully acknowledged this, and confirmed his wish to settle this matter.

When our Prophet knew of this matter, he said:” I was expecting Ali to come to me about this matter, and I was hoping that he would tell me himself about his wish…” But Ali answered:” O Prophet of God! I was verily ashamed to ask you such permission…” So then, our Prophet asked his wives to prepare a room in their home [our Prophet’s house] for Ali and Fâtemeh.