10/06/2026
admits excellence of (ع)
Salman Farsi (ر) narrates, “Once a few hypocrites were speaking ill of Amirul Momineen (ع). As they were speaking, Iblis passed by them. When he heard them speaking badly against Amirul Momineen (a), he stopped to listen.
The hypocrites asked him, “Who are you?”
Iblis replied, “I am Ibne Marra.”
The people asked him if he was listening to their discussion.
Iblis said, “Curses be upon you! You are speaking ill of Amirul Momineen Ali Ibne Abi Talib (ع) who is your Maula (master).”
The hypocrites replied, “What proof do you have the he is our Maula (master)”
Iblis replied, “O ignorant ones! Are you unaware of the words of your own Prophet? Whomsoever I am his Maula Ali (ع) is his Maula and He (the Prophet) then prayed “O My Lord! Be a friend to those who are friends with Ali (ع). Be an enemy to those who are the enemies of Ali (ع). Help those who help Ali (ع). Leave those who leave Ali (ع).”
So the hypocrites asked Iblis, “Are you also a Shia (follower) of Ali (ع)?”
Iblis replied, “I am not a Shia of Ali (ع). However I love Him. But I am a partner in the wealth and offspring of those who hate Him.”
Hypocrites asked Iblis to tell them whatever knowledge he possessed regarding the attributes of Ali (ع).
Iblis said, “O group of hypocrites! I prayed to Allah more than 12,000 years while I was living amongst the Jinns. When Allah destroyed the Jinns, I complained to Allah of my loneliness. So Allah took me up into the heavens. I prayed to Allah for 12,000 years more while I was living in the heavens. I prayed to Allah in the gatherings with all of the other angels. Once while we were busy in the worship of Allah, a Noor passed in front of us. Upon seeing this Noor, all of the angels fell into Sajdah and read the Tasbih of Saboohun Quddus. I was so surprised. I asked Allah, “O my Lord! Was this Noor of a high ranking angel or of some messenger or prophet?”
A voice from Allah came and said, “Neither is it the Noor of a high ranking angel nor that of any messenger or prophet.”
This is the Noor of the essence of Ali Ibne Abi Talib (ع).[1]
2- Ibne Shahr Ashob has mentioned a lengthy incident in his Manaqib an extract of which is as follows:
Ali Ibne Muhammad Sufi reports that once he chanced to meet the accursed Iblis. He asked: Who are you?
I told him that I was a human being.
He said: There is no god, except Allah! Are you not from a community whose members imagine themselves to be ardent devotees of God; after which they also disobey Him. And they verbally hate Iblis but obey him only?
I (Sufi) asked: Who are you?
He replied: I am the owner of a great name and the huge drum. I am the killer of Habil and I was one present in the Ark of Nuh. I am the one, who hamstrung the she-camel of Prophet Salih and who enflamed the fire of Ni**od to burn Ibrahim. I am the, one who instigated the murder of Yahya. I am the one, who brought the sorcerers to the court of Firon in the beginning. And also the one, who got the golden calf fashioned at the hands of Samiri in order to misguide Bani Israel. I am the one, who dispatched Abraha and his army mounted on elephants to Mecca in order to destroy the Kaaba. I am the one, who mobilized people to fight against Muhammad in the Battles of Badr and Uhad and I created greed in the minds of people in Saqifah on the day of the passing away of the Prophet. I am the one, who brought the She-Camel in the Battle of Basra. I am the Imam of the hypocrites. I destroy one group and misguide the other. I am the senior member of the oath-breakers (Nakiseen), the pillar of the unjust (Qasiteen) and the instigator of the apostates (Mariqeen). I am Abu Marrah. I am a body of fire. I was not created from dust and I am the one on whom descended the fury of the Lord of the Worlds.
I (Sufi) said: I adjure you in the name of Allah, tell me what I can do to gain proximity to Allah and also an act that would enable me to face worldly calamities.
He said: If you want to avoid worldly calamities, you must adopt thrift and if the need is of the hereafter you must become devoted to Ali Ibne Abi Talib (ع) and be hateful to his enemies. Remember, I obeyed God on the seven heavens and disobeyed Him on the seven layers of the earth. Whichever proximate angel or a messenger prophet I saw, he had gained divine proximity only through devotion to Ali.
Sufi says: After that he vanished from my view. Later I met Imam Muhammad Baqir (ع) and informed him about this incident. After listening to the whole account, he said: That accursed one confessed faith from the tongue but denied from the heart.[2]
3- It is narrated from Imam Ja’far Sadiq (ع) that a female Jinn, named Afra, was in the habit of coming to hear Muhammad, and brought a number of her tribe to embrace the faith. She did not come for several days and the Prophet inquired the cause of Jibraeel, who said that she had gone to visit one of her sister converts, whom she likes for the sake of the pleasure of Allah.
The Prophet replied, “Paradise is for those who love one another for the Lord’s sake.”
Later when Afra visited the Prophet, he asked: “What extraordinary things did you observe during the journey?”
She replied: “Many things.”
The Messenger of Allah (s) said, “Narrate to us the most extraordinary thing you saw.”
She said: “I saw Iblis sitting on a white stone in the Akhzar Sea. He was praying with raised hands: “O Allah, when You have sworn to put me in Hell, I ask you in the name of Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain to save me from Hell and raise me with them.”
I (Afra) asked: “O Harith, what are these names through whom you are praying to the Lord?”
He replied: “These are names I saw written on the empyrean 9000 years before the creation of Adam. That is why I thought that they are most beloved to Almighty Allah, so I prayed through them.”
The Holy Prophet (ص) said:
“By Allah, if all the people of the earth implore Almighty Allah through these names, He would definitely accept them".
[1] Amali, Shaykh Saduq, Pg. 284, Tr. 6; Ilalush Sharai, Pg. 143, Tr. 9; Biharul Anwar, Vol. 39, Pg. 162, Tr. 1.
[2] Manaqib, Ibne Shahr Ashob, Vol. 2, Pg. 251; Biharul Anwar, Vol. 39, Pg. 181, Tr. 23.
