Consider what the authors of books of traditions have quoted of his own hadith...

Consider what the authors of books of traditions have quoted of his own hadith, peace be upon him, during the incident of the feast arranged by the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, at the house of his uncle, the most dignified man among the people of Mecca, when he warned his near in kin.

It is a lengthy and sacred tradition people have always considered as one of the proofs of Prophethood and the miracles of Islam due to its inclusion of the Prophetic miracle of feeding a large number of people with very little food. We have already quoted it in Letter No. 20.

It concludes by stating that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, took ‘Ali (as) by the neck and said: "This is my brother, the executor of my will, and my own successor; so, listen to him and obey him." He used quite often to tell how the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, said to him: "You are the wali of every believer after me," and he also quite often used to narrate this statement of the Prophet (pbuh): "Your status to me is like that of Aaron to Moses, except there will be no Prophet after me," and, reminescing of Ghadir Khumm, "Do not I have more authority over the believers than the believers themselves have?" They said: "Yes, indeed." He then said: "To whomsoever I have been a wali, this (‘Ali (as)) is his wali," in the words of Ibn Abu ‘?sim, as we explained at the conclusion of Letter No.

23, in addition to many such irrefutable texts. They have been publicized by the most trustworthy and reliable traditionists. This is all that he was able to do during those circumstances. ["Purposeful wisdom; so, how can the nuthur be of any use?"] On the Day of Shüra, he discharged his responsibility and warned others, sparing none of his own attributes or feats without using it as an argument.

During the days of his caliphate, he often complained about the gross injustice done to him, painfully announcing his complaint from the pulpit, saying: "By God, that person vested it upon himself, knowing that my place from it was like the axle from the quern: From me does the stream of knowledge flow, and birds do not soar higher; so, I lowered against it my curtain and kept aloof therefrom.

I had to opt between either fighting with an amputated arm, or be patient about a blind calamity in which the grown-ups become elderly and the youngsters grow gray hair, one wherein a mu'min sweats till he meets his Lord.