We were heading for Koofah with ʿAli bin Abi Talib ؓ and when we were two of three days away from Harooraʿ, many people drifted away from us. We mentioned that to ʿAli ؓ 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 ؓ 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 ʿAli 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 ؓ 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 ؓ said: Whose son is he?  

لَا يَهُولَنَّكُمْ أَمْرُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ سَيَرْجِعُونَ فَذَكَرَ الْحَدِيثَ بِطُولِهِ قَالَ فَحَمِدَ اللهَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ وَقَالَ إِنَّ خَلِيلِي أَخْبَرَنِي أَنَّ قَائِدَ هَؤُلاءِ رَجُلٌ مُخْدَجُ الْيَدِ عَلَى حَلَمَةِ ثَدْيِهِ شَعَرَاتٌ كَأَنَّهُنَّ ذَنَبُ الْيَرْبُوعِ فَالْتَمَسُوهُ فَلَمْ يَجِدُوهُ فَأَتَيْنَاهُ فَقُلْنَا إِنَّا لَمْ نَجِدْهُ فَقَالَ الْتَمِسُوهُ فَوَاللهِ مَا كَذَبْتُ وَلَا كُذِبْتُ ثَلَاثًا فَقُلْنَا لَمْ نَجِدْهُ فَجَاءَ عَلِيٌّ بِنَفْسِهِ فَجَعَلَ يَقُولُ اقْلِبُوا ذَا اقْلِبُوا ذَا حَتَّى جَاءَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْكُوفَةِفَقَالَ هُوَ ذَا قَالَ عَلِيٌّ اللهُ أَكْبَرُ لَا يَأْتِيكُمِ أَحَدٌ يُخْبِرُكُمْ مَنْ أَبُوهُ؟ فَجَعَلَ النَّاسُ يَقُولُونَ هَذَا مَالِكٌ هَذَا مَالِكٌ يَقُولُ عَلِيٌّ ابْنُ مَنْ هُوَ