Moreover...

Moreover, the author states, there are many traditions which indicate that Hadith al-Thaqalayn and Hadith al-Ghadir were proclaimed by the Prophet (S) in the course of a single sermon at Ghadir Khumm. Some of these traditions have been recorded by al-Muttaqi in Kanz al-’ummal (i, 167), Ibn Kathir in Ta'rikh (v, 209), al-Sakhawi in al-Istijlab (MS), al-Samhudi in Jawahir al-’iqdayn (MS), Ibn Hajar in al-Sawa’iq (25) from al-Tabarani and many others.

According to still some other versions of the narration, Hadith al-Thaqalayn, Hadith al-Ghadir and Hadith al-Manzilah were mentioned in the course of the same sermon at Ghadir Khumm as mentioned by Ibn Hajar in al-Fatawa al-fiqhiyyat al-kubra, ii, 122.

In some versions of the tradition, he points out, the word 'khalifatayn' (successors) is mentioned instead of 'thaqalayn', as in the narrations recorded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal in Musnad, v, 181, as well as al-Tabarani, Ibn Abi ‘Asim, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah, al-Zarqani and others. This word implies rather more explicitly the Imamah and Khilafah of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (A) and the Ahlul Bayt (A).

Some versions of the tradition, such as the one narrated by Al-Qunduzi in Yanabi’ al-mawaddah, 20, from al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali (A), contain the following statement of the Prophet (S) which signifies the perpetuity of the Imamate: اللهم إني أعلم أن العلم لا يبيد ولا ينقطع ، وإنك لا تخلي أرضك من حجة لك على خلقك ، ظاهر ليس بالمطاع ، أو خائف مغمور لكيلا يبطل حجتك ، ولا يضل أولياؤك بعد إذ هديتهم ، أولئك الأقلون عددا الأعظمون قدرا عند الله عز وجل, ولقد دعوت الله تبارك وتعالى أن يجعل العلم والحكمة في وعقب عقبي وفي زرعي وزرع زرعي إلى يوم القيامة فاستجيب لي.

O God, You don't let the earth remain devoid of Your Proof over Your creation so that Your proofs should not become invalid or that Your friends should go astray after You have guided them. They (the Proofs of God) are few in number but great in worth near God, Almighty and Glorious.

Indeed, I had prayed to God, Exalted and Blessed, to place knowledge and wisdom in my descent and the descent of my descendants, and in my seed and the seed of my seed, until the Day of Resurrection, and my prayer was granted. This closely resembles the following tradition of Nahj al-­balaghah (Hikam: 147 ) addressed by ‘Ali (A) to his pupil Kumayl ibn Ziyad. لا تخلو الأرض من قائم لله بحجة إما ظاهرا مشهورا أو خائفا مغمورا لئلا تبطل حجج الله وبيناته.

وكم ذا وأين أولئك؟ أولئك - والله - الاقلون عددا، والاعظمون عند الله قدرا.