Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal: Book 5, Hadith 598
It was narrated that Abul-Wadi’ said: We were heading for Koofah with `Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) and when we were two of three days away from Haroora`, many people drifted away from us. We mentioned that to `Ali (رضي الله عنه) and he said: Do not worry about them, for they will come back…. And he narrated the Hadeeth at length. He said: ‘Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) praised Allah and said: My close friend told me that the leader of these people would be a man with a deformed arm like a breast on which would be some hairs like the tail of a jerboa. They looked for him but they did not find him. We came to him and said: We did not find him. He said: Look for him, for by Allah I did not lie and I was not told a lie – three times, We said: We did not find him. Then `Ali came himself and started saying: Turn this one over, turn this one over, until a man of Koofah came and said: Here he is. ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) said: Allahu Akbar! Is there anyone who could tell you who his father was? The people started saying: This is Malik, this is Malik. And ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) said: Whose son is he?
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْد اللَّهِ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَبِي بَكْرٍ الْمُقَدَّمِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا جَمِيلُ بْنُ مُرَّةَ، عَنْ أَبِي الْوَضِيءِ، قَالَ شَهِدْتُ عَلِيًّا رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ حِينَ قَتَلَ أَهْلَ النَّهْرَوَانِ قَالَ الْتَمِسُوا الْمُخْدَجَ فِي الْقَتْلَى قَالُوا لَمْ نَجِدْهُ قَالَ اطْلُبُوهُ فَوَاللَّهِ مَا كَذَبْتُ وَلَا كُذِبْتُ حَتَّى اسْتَخْرَجُوهُ مِنْ تَحْتِ الْقَتْلَى قَالَ أَبُو الْوَضِيءِ فَكَأَنِّي أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ حَبَشِيٌّ إِحْدَى يَدَيْهِ مِثْلُ ثَدْيِ الْمَرْأَةِ عَلَيْهَا شَعَرَاتٌ مِثْلُ ذَنَبِ الْيَرْبُوعِ.
Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal: Book 5, Hadith 598
The above hadith is from the Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal collection of hadiths. The Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal is a foundational work in Islamic hadith literature, highly valued for its comprehensive nature. Its most defining feature is its organizational method; it categorizes hadiths based on the companion of the Prophet who first reported them, with a dedicated section for each. This structure provides a unique window into the practices and sayings of the Prophet as witnessed and related by his diverse companions. Although the Musnad is held in extremely high regard and contains many authentic narrations, it is important to note that, due to its encyclopedic aim of collecting available reports, it also contains some hadiths with weaker chains of transmission that are subject to scholarly scrutiny.
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For more Hadith in Book 5: Musnad ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib