Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 14734

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates concerning Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Khalid bin al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him), each as commander of a separate army, and then said to both of them, concerning their joining together: "When you two come together, Ali will be your commander." The narrator says: The two of them took the right and the left. Then Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) entered that territory and went far, and there he obtained captives, and he took a slave girl from among the captives. Sayyiduna Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I hated Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) intensely. The narrator says: A man came to Sayyiduna Khalid bin al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) and mentioned that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) had taken a slave girl from the khums (one-fifth). He asked: "How did this happen?" Then another man came, then another, and then reports about it kept coming one after another. So Sayyiduna Khalid (may Allah be pleased with him) called me and said: "O Buraydah, you have come to know what Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) has done. Take this letter of mine to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." Then Sayyiduna Khalid (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I took the letter and went until I came into the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took the letter with his left hand. Such was the state of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as Allah Almighty has said: he had neither learned to read nor learned to write. It was my habit that when I spoke, I kept my head lowered until I had finished what I had to say. So I lowered my head and began speaking, and went as far as criticising Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), until I had finished. Then I raised my head and saw that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was intensely angry; I had never seen the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in such anger, except on the occasion of the battles of Qurayzah and al-Nadir. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at me and said: "O Buraydah, love Ali, for he has only done what he was commanded to do (or: what he was permitted to do)." The narrator says: When I stood up, there was no one more beloved to me than Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).
Al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. It contains da'if (weak) narrators whom Ibn Hibban declared thiqah (trustworthy).