Saad bin Abu Waqqas reported,

Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan ordered Saad, saying, "What prevented you from cursing Abu Turab?"Saad replied, "As long as I remember three things that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said about him, I will never curse him. To have any one of them would be dearer to me than red camels.I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say to him, when he left him behind during one of his military expeditions, and Ali said to him, 'Messenger of Allah, you are leaving me behind with the women and children?' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, 'Are you not pleased that you stand in relation to me as Harun stood in relation to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me?'And I heard him say on the day of Khaybar, 'I will surely give the banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger, and whom Allah and His Messenger love.' We all stretched our necks hoping to be the one, but he said, 'Call Ali for me.' Ali was brought to him suffering from sore eyes. The Prophet spat into his eyes and handed him the banner, and Allah granted victory through him.And when this verse was revealed, 'Say, come, let us call our sons and your sons' [Aal Imran 3:61], the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn, and said, 'O Allah, these are my family.'"

عن سعد بن أبي وقاص قال

أمر معاوية بن أبي سفيان سعدا، فقال: ما منعك أن تسب أبا التراب؟ فقال: أما ما ذكرت ثلاثا قالهن له رسول الله ﷺ فلن ا. أسبه. لأن تكون لى واحدة منهن أحب إلى من حمر النعم، سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول له، خلفه في بعض مغازيه، فقال له علي: يا رسول الله خلفتني مع النساء والصبيان؟ فقال له رسول الله ﷺ: أما ترضى أن تكون منى بمنزلة هارون من موسى، إلا أنه لا نبوة بعدي. وسمعته يقول يوم خيبر: لأعطين الراية رجلا يحب الله ورسوله ويحبه الله ورسوله. قال فتطاولنا لها، فقال: ادعوا لي عليا. فأتي به أرمد، فبصق فى عينه، ودفع الراية إليه، ففتح الله عليه، ولما نزلت هذه الآية: {فقل تعالوا ندع أبناءنا وأبناءكم} [آل عمران: ٦١] دعا رسول الله ﷺ عليا وفاطمة وحسنا وحسينا فقال: اللهم هؤلاء أهلي