Description of the connection and relationship of Nabi Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) with Hazrat Ali ibn Abu Talib (radiyallahu 'anh)

taken from Rauza-tus-Safa

by Imam El-Sheikh Syed Mubarak Ali Jilani El-Hashimi

The connection of Hazrat ‘Ali—the Amir-ul-Mu’mineen with the Holy Nabi—originated in the family of ‘Abdul-Muttalib, Ali having been the son of Abu Talib, the son of ‘Abdul-Muttalib, the son of Hashim whose name was ‘Umar, called Umran the high, on account of his dignity. During a year of famine and hardship Umran had gone to Syria, and thence imported bread, on an infinite number of dromedaries, to the sanctuary, so that every day two camels were slaughtered and roasted; and the dry breads, having been moistened, were distributed twice daily. He was the first among the Arabs who invited guests to a repast prepared of moistened bread, and therefore surnamed Hashim. Other chroniclers, again, have said that Hashim means one who breaks bread in a cup to make it a kind of porridge, but the difference between the two meanings is obvious. Hashim was proverbial for his liberality and unrivaled in gracefulness; the luminous beams of distinction radiated in such a manner from his forehead that whoever beheld his countenance had not the boldness to contemplate it, but looked to the ground. This, the Christian sovereigns knew from their sacred books, and wished to enter into connection with him. One of these was Harql (Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor), who sent him an ambassador and offered him a virgin whom he guarded in his private apartments, but Hashim refrained from complying with his petition. Afterwards, however, he entered—in consequence of a dream he had—into a matrimonial alliance, at Madinah, with Salma, one of the noblest ladies of the Bani Najjar, who was decorated with the ornaments of intellect and sagacity, on condition that her confinement should take place in her own house. After the consummation of the marriage the lady was taken to Makkah, but on her becoming pregnant with ‘Abdul-Muttalib she was on account of the condition again conveyed back to Madinah, but after she had given birth to ‘Abdul-Muttalib, Hashim went to Syria, fell sick in the vicinity of Damascus, and gave directions in his last agony to surrender the bow to the Prophet Isma’il, the banner, and the key of the house of the Ka’bah, which he had inherited from his forefathers, to ‘Abdul-Muttalib, and having, though young, bidden farewell to his perishable world, he was buried in that country, where his tomb is still known and visited. Some say that Hashim went to Syria before the birth of Abdul-Muttalib, and that he had himself given the just-mentioned articles to his brother Muttalib, to whom he had also transferred the gubernatorial office, whilst the latter, in his turn, surrendered everything to Abdul-Muttalib. But Muttalib was the son of ‘Abd Munaf whose name was [also] Mughairah and surname ‘Abdul-Shams, but Munaf was likewise the name of an idol. On account of his great beauty, he was also named Qamar [full moon], and because he had inherited the sovereignty from his father, the surrounding kings hastened to join ‘Abd Munaf. He had four sons: one of them was Hashim, about whom some circumstances have already been mentioned above. ‘Abdul-Shams was the ancestor of the Bani Umayya [called Ommiade Caliphs by European authors]; Naufil was the forefather of Habib, the son of Mu’azim, and Muttalib of Ali Shafa’i; the latter was thus surnamed because it is related that Hashim and ‘Abdul-Shams were twins, whose foreheads were connected at their birth and could not be separated, until at last the sword was resorted to. An intelligent man, who had been informed of this proceeding, considered it to be a sign that the descendants of the two brothers would decide their quarrels with the sabre, which prediction was actually fulfilled in the enmity between his lordship the Nabi (Sallallahu ‘alaihi wa Sallam) and Abu Sufyan, between Hadrat Ali and Hadrat Mu’awiyah (radiyallahu ‘anhuma), and between the Imam al-Husain (radiyallahu ‘anh) and Yazid.