Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 7076

Suhayb, the freed slave of Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), narrates: Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) sent me to Sayyiduna Uthman al-Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him) so that I could bring him. I came to Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) and he was feeding people. I called him, and he came to Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "O Abu al-Fadl! May your face be successful" (i.e. he prayed for him). Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Commander of the Believers! Your face too (may it be successful)." Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) explained: "When your messenger came to me I was feeding people, so as soon as I had fed them I came to you." Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I implore you by Allah concerning Ali. He is your cousin, your brother in religion, your companion in the company of the Prophet, and he is also your relative by marriage. It has reached me that you intend to take action against Ali and his companions, so spare me that, O Commander of the Believers!" Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The first answer I give you is that I have accepted your intercession concerning Ali. If Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) had wished, no one would have been ahead of him, but he insisted on nothing except his own opinion." Then he sent a message to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him): "I implore you by Allah regarding your cousin, the son of your paternal aunt, your brother in religion, your companion in the company of the Messenger, and the guardian of your pledge of allegiance." Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah! If he were to order me to leave my house, I would leave."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).