287. al-Ghārāt – narrating from Zādān: “I went together with Qanbar to visit Ali (a.s.) and Qanbar said to him: “O Commander of the Faithful! Stand up as I have hidden something valuable for you.”
He asked: “What is it?”
Qanbar said: “Come with me.”
Ali (a.s.) stood up and left for his home and there he saw bags full of gold and silver cups. Qanbar said: “O Commander of the Faithful! You do not leave anything without dividing it, so I saved these for you.”
Ali (a.s.) said: “You liked to bring a huge fire into my house! Then he unsheathed his sword and struck down on the cups and cleaved each into two or three parts. He then said: “Divide them into portions!” They did so, and then he uttered the following poem:
This is my harvest, and the best of it is in it;
Yet, every harvester put it with his ow hand in his own mouth.
O white (silver), deceive someone else! O yellow (gold), deceive someone else!”1
288. al-Ikhtisās – concerning the food of Imām Ali (a.s.): “He heard [the sizzling of] meat being roasted in his house and he rose to his feet and said: “Woe betide Ali ibn Abi Tālib if he eats this roasted meat (karaker)2?!”
The narrator goes on to say: “His family got scared and said: “O Commander of the Faithful! A camel has been slaughtered
in your wife’s tribe and her family has brought her a share as a gift.” He said: “Eat it, may it be pleasant and pure!”3
1.. al-Ghārāt, vol. ۱, p. ۵۵, Manāqib al-Imām Amir al-Mu'minin, vol. ۲, p. ۳۳, h. ۵۱۹. Also cf., Manāqib Ali ibn Abi Tālib, vol. ۲, p. ۱۰۸.
2.. This statement means that if the meat being roasted in Ali’s house is procured by unlawful means, he will be punished for it. Karaker here means tasty meat, as it is from the breast part of the camel’s meat which is its most delicious part. al-Nihāya, vol. ۴, p. ۱۶۶.
3.. al-Ikhtisās, p. ۱۵۲.
