Then he said, "Call my beloved brother 'Ali to me.

Then he said, "Call my beloved brother 'Ali to me." 'Ali came in and sat near the head of the Prophet. When the Prophet lifted his head, 'Ali moved to the side and, holding the Prophet's head, he rested it, on his own lap. The Prophet then said: "O 'Ali! I have taken a certain amount from so and so Jew for the expenditure on Usamah's army. See that you repay it. And, O 'Ali! You will be the first person to reach me at the heavenly reservoir of al-Kawthar.

You will also be given a lot of trouble after my death. You should bear it patiently and when you see that the people prefer the lust of this world, you should prefer the hereafter." The following is quoted in Khasa' is of Nasa' i from Ummu Salamah: "By Allah, the closest person [to the Prophet] at the time of the Prophet's death was 'Ali. Early on the morning of the day when he was going to die, the Prophet called 'Ali who had been sent out on some errand.

He asked for 'Ali three times before his return. However, 'Ali came before sunrise. So, thinking that the Prophet needed some privacy with 'Ali, we came out. I was the last to be out; therefore, I sat closer to the door than the other women. I saw that 'Ali lowered his head towards the Prophet and the Prophet kept whispering into his ears (for sometime).

Therefore, 'Ali is the only person who was near the Prophet till the last." Al-Hakim, moreover, remarks in his Mustadrak that: "the Prophet kept confiding in 'Ali till the time of his death. Then he breathed his last." Ibn al-Wardi points out that the persons who were responsible for giving the Prophet his funeral bath were: "Ali, Abbas, Fadhl Qutham, Usamah and Shaqran. Abbas, Fadhl and Qutham turned the body.

Usamah and Shaqran poured water, and Ali washed the body." Tarikh al-Khamis adds the following: "Abbas, Fadhl and Qutham turned the body from one side to the other as Usamah and Shaqran poured water over it.

All of them were blind-folded." Ibn Sa'd narrates the following in his Tabaqat: "Ali narrated that the Prophet had so enjoined that if anyone except himself (Ali) had given him the funeral bath, he would have gone blind." 'Abdul-Barr, in his book Al-Isti'ab, quotes 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas as saying: "Ali had four such exceptional honors to his credit as none of us had: • Of all the Arabs and non-Arabs, he was the first to have the distinction of saying prayers with the Prophet.