Hadith No: 1
Al-Tabari - Dhakha'ir al-Uqba fi Manaqib Dhawi al-Qurbá
Part One: Regarding What Was Mentioned About Relatives in a General and Overall Manner - Mention of Verses Revealed About Them
Volume: (1) - Page Number: (16)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- .... Chapter on the Virtue of the People of the House and Encouragement to Hold Fast to Them and to the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, and to the Good Succession in Both
From Zayd ibn Arqam (ra) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said: "I am leaving among you two precious things, and if you hold fast to them, you will not go astray after me. One of them is greater than the other: the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, a cord stretched from the heavens to the earth, and my Ahlul Bayt (People of the House). They will not separate until they both return to me at the cistern (al-Hawd), so see how you will follow me in them." This was narrated by al-Tirmidhi, who said: It is Hasan Gharib.
- .... And from him who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) stood among us delivering a sermon, praising Allah and extolling Him, and then said: "O people, I am only a human being. Soon, a messenger from my Lord, Mighty and Majestic be He, will come to me, and I will answer him.
And I am leaving among you two precious things, the first of which is the Book of Allah, which contains guidance and light. So hold fast to the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, and take from it, and be encouraged by it and show desire for it." Then he said: "And my Ahlul Bayt, I remind you of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, concerning my Ahlul Bayt," three times." Zayd was asked, "Are not his wives among his Ahlul Bayt?" He replied, "Yes, his wives are part of his Ahlul Bayt, but the Ahlul Bayt of him are those from whom charity is forbidden after him." He was asked, "Who are they?" He replied, "They are the family of Ali, the family of Ja'far, the family of Aqil, and the family of Abbas." It was said, "Are all of these not allowed to receive charity?" He said, "Yes." This was narrated by Muslim.
- .... And Ahmad has a narration with a similar meaning from the hadith of Abu Sa'id, with the wording: "He (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said, 'I am soon to be summoned and I will respond,
and I am leaving among you two precious things: the Book of Allah and my Ahlul Bayt. The Book of Allah is a cord stretched from the heavens to the earth, and my Ahlul Bayt are my family. And the Subtle, All-Aware has informed me that they will not separate until they both return to me at the cistern, so consider how you will deal with what I leave behind in them.'"