Ali’s Virtues at Creation and Birth
Ali (A.S) was born on 13th of Rajab, thirty years after the year of the Elephant in Kaba. This virtue belongs only to him, for no one was ever born in Kaba except him neither in the past nor in the future.
The author of Basha’ir al-Mustafa has reported Yazid ibn Qa`nab as saying: I and `Abbas ibn `Abd al-Muttalib and a group of the tribe of `Abd al-`Uzza were sitting near Kaba when we saw Fatimah Bint Asad, the mother of Amir al-Mu'minin while she was nine months pregnant and signs of delivery were manifest in her, came from afar raising her hands in prayer and saying: O Lord! I believe in You, Your Messengers and their books while accepting as truth the words of the prophet Ibrahim (A.S) who rebuilt this house. O Lord! I ask You through the one who built this house and the one I have in my womb to make the hardship of his birth easy for me.
Yazid ibn Qa`nab says: I saw the wall of Kaba was opened and Fatimah went inside it and the wall returned to its former state. The group of people who were sitting there rose up to unlock the door but it was not opened. We inferred that the wall had been opened on the order of the Lord and that it was a favor God had done to that lady and her son. Three days passed and on the fourth day, Fatimah carrying the new-born infant in her hands came out of Kaba, saying: Beyond doubt, I am superior to the believing women of former times, for Asiyah, the daughter of Muzahim, worshipped God secretly and God did not like to be worshipped except under necessity that is in Pharaoh’s house which was the cradle of atheism and oppression.
Mary, the daughter of `Imran, too came out of the mosque of Jerusalem and her place of worship on the order of Lord and then gave birth to Jesus (A.S) eating fresh date from a dry palm-tree. However, I entered Kaba on the order of Lord and fed on heavenly fruits. After delivery too when I intended to come out of Kaba, an invisible caller told me to name the auspicious infant `Ali, for Allah the most High says: I name him after My own name, reared him with special rearing, making him aware of My own profound knowledge. It is he who, in a near future, will clean My house from idols, will break them, and will declare the rule of one God on the roof of My house. He will glorify Me. Happy is one who loves him and obeys his orders and ill-fated is one who is hostile to him and disobeys his orders.[1]
The narrator says: When Ali was born, the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH) was thirty years old. The Holy Prophet loved him greatly and asked his mother, Fatimah to place Ali’s cradle near his bed.
The Messenger of Allah was personally in charge of bringing up Ali. He bathed Ali with his own hands and fed him and rocked his cradle at sleep time. When Ali was awake, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) would speak to him and put him on his chest, saying: This dear infant is my brother, guardian, supporter, asset, the chosen one, my son-in-law, successor, the husband of my daughter, my trustworthy, and the caliph after me. The Messenger of Allah would always put Ali on his shoulders and took him to mountains of Mecca so as to be engaged in prayer away from the eyes of the idol-worshippers.
Notes:
Bisharat al-Mustafa, pp. 8
Source: shiastudies.net
Other links:
The Verses of the Glorious Qur'an In the Praise of Imam Ali (A.S.): Part 1
The Verses of the Glorious Qur'an in the Praise of Imam Ali (A.S.): Part 2
