Hadith No: 2
Al-Tabarani - al-Mu'jam al-Kabir - Book of the letter Seen - Abu Sa'id from Salman (ra)
Volume: (6) - Page Number: (221)
6063 - Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Haḍhrami narrated to us, saying: Ibrahim ibn al-Hasan al-Thalabi narrated to us, saying: Yahya ibn Ya'la narrated to us from Nasih ibn Abdullah, from Samak ibn Harb, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, from Salman, who said: I said, "O Messenger of Allah, every prophet has a successor, so who is your successor?" He fell silent before me, but when some time passed, he saw me and said: "O Salman." I hurried to him and said, "Here I am at your service." He said: "Do you want to know who the successor of Moses is?" I replied, "Yes, Joshua ibn Nun." He said, "Why?" I said, "Because he was the most knowledgeable of them." He said, "Then my successor, the one who will hold my secret, and the best of those I leave behind is
Ali ibn Abi Talib, and he will fulfill my promise and settle my debts." Abu al-Qasim said: His statement, "successor," means that he entrusted him with his family, not with the caliphate, and his statement, "the best of those I leave behind after me," refers to the people of his household (peace be upon them).