Hadith No: 3
Ibn Abi Asim - al-Sunnah - Chapter on What Was Mentioned Regarding the Virtue of Ali (ra)
Volume: (2) - Page Number: (602)
1351 - Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna narrated to us, saying: Yahya ibn Hammad narrated to us, saying: Abu 'Awānah narrated to us, from Yahya ibn Sulaym, Abu Balj, from Amr ibn Maymun, from Ibn Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said, "I will surely send a man whom Allah and His Messenger love, and whom Allah will never humiliate." So those who were present leaned forward in anticipation. He then said, "Where is Ali?" So he called him, and he was suffering from eye inflammation, barely able to see. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) then breathed into his eyes and shook the flag three times, handing it to him. He came with Safiyyah bint Huyyi
and he sent Abu Bakr with Surah At-Tawbah, and he sent Ali after him, and Ali took it from him. Then Abu Bakr said to Ali, "By Allah and His Messenger!" Ali replied, "No, but only a man who is from me and I am from him will take it."