Ali bin Abu Talib fell gravely ill, to the point of being on the brink of death, and we feared for his life. Then he recovered and regained his strength.We said to him, "Congratulations, Abu al-Hasan. Praise be to Allah who has restored you to health. We had truly feared for you."He replied, "But I myself had no fear for my life. The Truthful and Trusted One told me that I will not die until I am struck here," pointing to the front-left of his head, "and this is dyed red with blood from it." He took hold of his beard and said to me, "You will be killed by the most wretched of this nation, just as the she-camel of Allah was hamstrung by the most wretched man of the tribe of so-and-so from Thamud."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ traced the killer's lineage to a specific clan within Thamud, identifying him by his closest branch rather than by Thamud as a whole.
مرض علي بن أبي طالب مرضا شديدا حتى أدنف وخفنا عليه، ثم إنه برأ ونقة، فقلنا: هنيئا لك أبا الحسن، الحمد لله الذي عافاك، قد كنا نخاف عليك. قال: لكني لم أخف على نفسي، أخبرني الصادق المصدق أني لا أموت حتى أضرب على هذه، وأشار إلى مقدم رأسه الأيسر، فتخضب هذه منها بدم، وأخذ بلحيته، وقال لي: يقتلك أشقى هذه الأمة كما عقر ناقة الله أشقى بني فلان من ثمود. قال: فنسبه رسول الله ﷺ إلى فخذه الدنيا دون ثمود.
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Abu Yaala (569) narrated it from Ubaydullah (that is, Qawariri), who said, Abdullah bin Jafar (that is, Ibn Abu Najeeh) told us, Zayd bin Aslam informed me, from Abu Sinan Yazid bin Umaya, who said, and then he mentioned it. Its chain is daif because of Abdullah bin Jafar, and this is the fault Haythami identified in it. However, it has a corroborating narration, for Abd bin Humayd (92) narrated it from Muhammad bin Bishr (that is, Abdi Kufi), who said, Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Zinad told us, Zayd bin Aslam told us, from Abu Sinan Dawli Yazid bin Umaya, and then he mentioned it. Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Zinad has been criticized, but he poses no problem as a corroborating narrator.Tabarani also narrated it in Al-Kabir (1/63-64), and Hakim (1/113), both of them by way of Abdullah bin Salih, who said, Layth bin Saad told me, Khalid bin Yazid told me, from Saeed bin Abu Hilal, from Zayd bin Aslam, that Abu Sinan Dawli said, and then he mentioned it. This is another corroborating narration, but Abdullah bin Salih (that is, Abu Salih Misri, the scribe of Layth) has been criticized, though he too is corroborated overall.Haythami graded it hasan in Majma (9/137), saying, "Tabarani narrated it, and its chain is hasan."