Narrated 'Amir bin Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas:
from his father, saying "Mu'awiyah bin Abu Sufyan ordered Sa'd, saying 'What prevented you from reviling Abu Turab?' He said: 'Three things that I remember from the Messenger of Allah (S) prevent me from reviling him. That I should have even one those things is more beloved to me than red camels. I heard the Messenger of Allah (S) speaking to 'Ali, and he had left him behind in one of his battles. So 'Ali said to him: "O Messenger of Allah! You leave me behind with women and children?" So the Messenger of Allah (S) said to him: "Are you not pleased that you should be in the position with me that Harun was with Musa? Except that there is no Prophethood after me?" And on the Day of (the battle of) Khaibar, I heard him saying: "I shall give the banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger, and Allah and His Messenger love him." So we all waited for that, then he said: "Call 'Ali for me." He said: 'So he came to him, and he had been suffering from Ramad (an eye condition), so he (S) put spittle in his eye and gave the banner to him, then Allah granted him victory. And when this Ayah was revealed: 'Let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women...' (3:61) the Messenger of Allah (S) called 'Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husain and said: "O Allah, these are my family."
Narrated Sa'id ibn Zayd:
AbdurRahman ibn al-Akhnas said that when he was in the mosque, a man mentioned Ali (as). So Sa'id ibn Zayd got up and said: I bear witness to the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) that I heard him say: Ten persons will go to Paradise: The Prophet (s.a.w.a.) will go to Paradise, AbuBakr will go to Paradise, Umar will go to Paradise, Uthman will go to Paradise, Ali will go to Paradise, Talhah will go to Paradise: az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam will go to paradise, Sa'd ibn Malik will go to Paradise, and AbdurRahman ibn Awf will go to Paradise. If I wish, I can mention the tenth. The People asked: Who is he: So he kept silence. They again asked: Who is he: He replied: He is Sa'id ibn Zayd.
Rabah ibn al-Harith said:
I was sitting with someone in the mosque of Kufah while the people of Kufah were with him. Then Sa'id ibn Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl came and he welcomed him, greeted him, and seated him near his foot on the throne. Then a man of the inhabitants of Kufah, called Qays ibn Alqamah, came. He received him and began to abuse him.
Sa'id asked: Whom is this man abusing? He replied: He is abusing 'Ali. He said: Don't I see that the companions of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) are being abused, but you neither stop it nor do anything about it? I heard the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) say--and I need not say for him anything which he did not say, and then he would ask me tomorrow when I see him --AbuBakr will go to Paradise and Umar will go to Paradise. He then mentioned the rest of the tradition to the same effect (as in No. 4632).
He then said: The company of one of their man whose face has been covered with dust by the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) is better than the actions of one of you for a whole life time even if he is granted the life-span of Noah.
It was narrated that Sa`d bin Waqqas said:
"Mu`awiyah came on one of his pilgrimages and Sa`d entered upon him. They mentioned `Ali, and Mu`awiyah criticized him. Sa`d became angry and said: 'Are you saying this of a man of whom I heard the Messenger of Allah (S) say: "If I am a person's close friend, `Ali is also his close friend." And I heard him say: "You are to me like Harun was to Musa, except that there will be no Prophet after me." And I heard him say: "I will give the banner today to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger."