Hadith No: 1
Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri - Al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahihain
Book of Knowledge of the Companions (ra) - I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is its Gate
Volume: (3) - Page Number: (126)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
4693 - Abu al-Abbas Muhammad ibn Ya'qub narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahim al-Harawi narrated to us in al-Ramla, saying: Abu al-Salt Abd al-Salam ibn Salih narrated to us, saying: Abu Mu'awiya narrated to us from al-A'mash from Mujahid
from Ibn Abbas (ra) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said, "I am the City of Knowledge, and Ali is its Gate. Whoever wishes to enter the City should come to the Gate." This is a hadith with a sound chain of narration, and neither of them recorded it. Abu al-Salt is a trustworthy and reliable narrator, for I heard Abu al-Abbas Muhammad ibn Ya'qub in al-Tarikh say: I heard al-Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Duri say: I asked Yahya ibn Ma'in about Abu al-Salt al-Harawi, and he said: "He is trustworthy." I said: "Has he not narrated from Abu Mu'awiya from al-A'mash, 'I am the City of Knowledge, and Ali is its Gate'?" He replied: "Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Fidi narrated it, and he is trustworthy and reliable." I heard Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn Sahl al-Faqih al-Qubani, the imam of his time in Bukhara, say: I heard Salih ibn Muhammad ibn Habib al-Hafiz say: He was asked about Abu al-Salt al-Harawi, and he said: Yahya ibn Ma'in entered while we were with him on Abu al-Salt and greeted him. When he came out, I followed him and said: "What do you think of Abu al-Salt, may Allah have mercy on you?" He replied: "He is honest." I said to him: "He narrates the hadith of al-A'mash from Mujahid from Ibn Abbas
from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny), 'I am the City of Knowledge, and Ali is its Gate. Whoever wishes to enter the City should come to the Gate.'" He said: "This has been narrated by that Fidi from Abu Mu'awiya from al-A'mash just as Abu al-Salt narrated it."
Imam Abu Zakariya narrated to us the soundness of what we mentioned, saying: Yahya ibn Ma'in narrated to us, saying: Abu al-Husain Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Tamim al-Quntari narrated to us, saying: al-Husain ibn Fahm narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn al-Dhurris narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Fidi narrated to us, saying: Abu Mu'awiya narrated to us from al-A'mash from Mujahid from:
Ibn Abbas who said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said, 'I am the City of Knowledge, and Ali is its Gate. Whoever wishes to enter the City should come to the Gate.'" Al-Husain ibn Fahm said: Abu al-Salt al-Harawi narrated this to us from Abu Mu'awiya. Al-Hakim said: Let it be known to the seeker of this knowledge that al-Husain ibn Fahm ibn Abd al-Rahman is a trustworthy, reliable guardian, and there is corroboration for this hadith from the narration of Sufyan al-Thawri with a sound chain of narration.