Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat 6127 — I was present with Sayyiduna Qays bin Asim

Abd al-Malik bin Abi Sawiyyah al-Minqari (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates: I was present with Sayyiduna Qays bin Asim (may Allah be pleased with him) when he was making his will. He gathered his sons, who were thirty-two males, and said: "O my sons! When I die, make the eldest of you your chief; in this way you will remain successors of your father. Do not make the youngest of you your chief, for that would make you contemptible in the eyes of your equals. Do not set up a wailing woman over me, for I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbid wailing. Hold fast to managing and preserving wealth, for it is a source of honour and renown for the noble man, and through it a man is spared need of the base. Give away camels only in their rightful due, and do not withhold them from their due (zakah and obligations). Beware of every bad origin and lineage, for even if it pleases you one day, what will grieve you will be far more. Be wary of the children of your enemies, for they will remain your enemies, following the way of their fathers. When I die, bury me in a place where the people of this tribe of Bakr bin Wa'il cannot reach me, for in the time of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah) there were wounds and hostilities between me and them. I fear that they will dig me out of my grave; then you would ruin their worldly life and they would ruin your Hereafter." Then he called for his quiver and commanded his eldest son, whose name was Ali: "Take out one arrow from my quiver." He took it out, and he said: "Break it." He broke it. Then he said: "Take out two arrows." He took them out, and he said: "Break them." He broke them. Then he said: "Take out three arrows." He took them out, and he said: "Tie them with a bowstring." He tied them, then he said: "Now break them." He could not break them. Then he said: "O my sons! This is how (strong) you are when united, and this is how (weak) you are when divided." Then he recited these verses: "Glory is only what a true father has built and his son has kept his deeds alive." "Glory, courage and forbearance suffice when chastity and generosity adorn them." "O my sons, you are thirty, when your pacts are bound together to face calamities." "Then you are like thirty arrows that a firm knot has tightly bound." "They do not break; but if the arrows are scattered, the scattering destroys their unity." "And those of age and manly virtue are more deserving of leadership, provided that such as them are made chiefs." "And upon them is the protection of the young, until the youngest, worn by hardship, reaches maturity."
Imam al-Tabarani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "This hadith is not narrated in this complete form and with this poetry except with this chain; al-Ala' bin al-Fadl bin Abi Sawiyyah al-Minqari is alone in narrating it."
In the printed edition of Dar al-Haramayn it is like this ("fa-innaha"), and the Tahhan edition indicates that it is like this in the manuscript too, and that the correct reading is ("fa-innahu").