Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah

Sayyiduna Imran bin Husain (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) as the commander of an army, and he went with his group. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) took a slave girl, and the other people did not like this, and four companions of the Messenger of Allah made an agreement among themselves that if they met the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), they would inform him about what Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) had done. (At that time, it was customary that) when Muslims returned from a journey, they would first go to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), greet him, and then go to their homes. When this army returned, the participants came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and greeted him. According to their agreement, one of the four stood up and said: O Messenger of Allah! Do you not see Ali? He has done such and such. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) turned away from him. Then the second stood up and said the same thing. He also turned away from him. Then the third stood up and said the same thing, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also turned away from him. Then the fourth stood up and said the same thing. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) turned towards him, and signs of anger could be seen on his face, and he said: "What do you want by complaining about Ali? Indeed, Ali is from me and I am from him, and after me, he will be the friend of every believer."