"Tomorrow I shall give the banner to a man loved by Allah"

The Boukhari and Mouslim report through Yazid ibn Abi Ubayd, from Salama ibn al-Akwa’: Ali ibn Abi Talib had held back from the Messenger of Allah at Khaybar, suffering from an eye ailment, saying to himself: shall I hold back from the Prophet? Then he rejoined him. "When we spent the night of the night on which Khaybar was conquered, the Prophet said: tomorrow I shall give the banner to a man loved by Allah and His Messenger, and Allah will grant victory through him. We hoped, and it was said: it is Ali. He gave it to him, and victory came through him."

The Boukhari reports through Sahl ibn Sa’d a more detailed version: "The Messenger of Allah said on the day of Khaybar: tomorrow I shall indeed give this banner to a man through whose two hands Allah will grant victory, who loves Allah and His Messenger and is loved by Allah and His Messenger. The people spent the night pondering which of them would receive it, and when morning came, all came to the Prophet hoping to receive it. He said: where is Ali ibn Abi Talib? They answered: he is, O Messenger of Allah, complaining of his eyes.

He said: send for him. He was brought, the Messenger of Allah spat into his eyes, supplicated for him, and he was healed as if he had never felt any pain. Then he gave him the banner. Ali said: O Messenger of Allah, shall I fight them until they are as we are?

He said: go steadily on your way until you reach their abode, then call them to Islam and inform them of what Allah the Most High makes binding upon them. By Allah, if Allah were to guide through you a single man, that would be better for you than red camels." Mouslim and an-Nasa’i report through Abou Hourayra that Oumar said: "Never did I love command except on that day." The Prophet said to him: "Go and fight until Allah grants you victory, and do not turn back."

Ali asked: upon what shall I fight the people? He answered: "Fight them until they testify that there is no deity but Allah and that Mohamed is the Messenger of Allah. When they have done so, their blood and their property shall be protected from you, except by right, and their reckoning is with Allah."

Imam Ahmad reports through Abou Sa’id al-Khoudri that the Messenger of Allah took the banner, waved it, then said: "Who will take it upon its due right?" A man came, and he said: step aside. Another came, and he said: step aside. Then he said: "By Him in whose hand is the soul of Mohamed, I shall indeed give it to a man who does not flee. Take it, O Ali." He went forth, and Allah opened through him Khaybar and Fadak, and he brought back their dates and their flour. The chain has no flaw, but the narrator Abdallah ibn Isma (called Abou Alwan al-Ijli) drew divided judgments: Ibn Ma’in declared him reliable, Abou Zur’a said "no harm in him", Abou Hatim said "a shaykh", and Ibn Hibban listed him among the reliable while noting that he errs much, then among the weak.