And from him, from Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn b. Abī’l-Khaṭṭāb, from al-Ḥasan b. Maḥbūb, from ʿAlī b. Riʾāb, from both Abī ʿUbayda and Zurāra, from Abī Jaʿfar عليه السلام, who said: “When al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī عليه السلام had been killed, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥanafiyya sent for ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn عليه السلام and met with him privately, then he said to him: “O’ nephew of mine, you know well that the Apostle of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله rendered the testamentary charge and the Imamate after him to ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib عليه السلام, then to al-Ḥasan, then to al-Ḥusayn عليهما السلام. Your father has now been killed, without having bequeathed (to anyone). I am your paternal uncle, and your father’s brother and peer. I was likewise born to ʿAlī عليه السلام, and due to my seniority in age and precedence I am more entitled to it—the Imamate and the testamentary charge—than you are, on account of your youth. So I bid you not to contest with me in regard to the testamentary charge and the Imamate, and that you do not oppose me.” ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn عليه السلام said to him: “Fear Allāh, o’ uncle! Do not claim what you have no right to. I would admonish you, lest you be of the ignorant. O’ uncle, indeed my father صلوات الله عليه bequeathed to me before he departed for Iraq, and entrusted the covenant (of Allāh) to me from that,[1] an hour before he was martyred. And this is the weapon of the Apostle of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله with me,[2] so do not involve yourself in this. Indeed, I fear that a shortened lifespan and a disturbed condition will befall you (on account of doing so). Indeed, when Allāh تعالى had done with Muʿāwiya what He had done, He issued a Divine disclosure,[3] and swore that He would not (afterwards) render the testamentary charge and the Imamate to anyone but the progeny of al-Ḥusayn عليه السلام. Indeed, if you intend to know of that (with certainty), then head to the Black Stone so that we may submit the matter to it for judgement, and ask it about that.” Abū Jaʿfar عليه السلام continued: “The conversation between them that day took place when they were both in Mecca, so together they headed to the Stone until they arrived at it. ʿAlī عليه السلام said to Muḥammad: “Begin. Supplicate to Allāh earnestly, and ask Him to make (the Stone) speak to you, then ask of it.” So, Muḥammad proceeded to supplicate, and asked Allāh. Then, he called upon the Stone, but it did not answer him. ʿAlī عليه السلام said to him: “Indeed, o’ uncle. Had you truly been the Legatee and Imam, it would have answered you.” Muḥammad said to him: “You call upon it, o’ son [of my brother], and ask of it.” So, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn عليه السلام supplicated to Allāh for what he sought, and then he said: “I adjure you, by He Who installed in you the covenant of the servants, and the covenant of the Prophets and the Legatees, to inform us, in a clear Arabic tongue, who is the Legatee and Imam after al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī عليه السلام?!” The Stone stirred until it almost fell out of its locus, and then Allāh made it speak in a clear Arabic tongue: “O’ Allāh! Indeed, the testamentary charge and the Imamate after al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī belongs to ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn عليهما السلام, the scion of Fāṭima عليها السلام, the daughter of the Apostle of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله.” After that, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī—Ibn al-Ḥanafiyya—departed, having accepted ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn عليه السلام as the one with authority over him.”