The Commander of the Faithful Ali son of Abu Talib the first of the Imams of the believers, the truthful one and the trusted one, blessings on him and his pure family, he was the brother of the Apostle of God and his paternal cousin, and his helper (wazir) in his affair, his son-in- law (being married) to his daughter, Fatima the chaste, mistress of the women of the universe. He was the Lord of the testamentary trustees of authority (wasiyyin), the best of blessing and peace be on him.
He was born in the Kabah in Mecca on Friday, the thirteenth day of the month of Rajab. Nobody before or after him has ever been born in the House of God. It was a mark of him being honored by God, the Most High, may His name be exalted, and of his position being dignified in its greatness.
His mother was Fatima, daughter of Asad b. Hashim b. Abd Manaf, may God be pleased with her. She was like a mother to the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, and he (the Apostle) was brought up under her care.
Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be on him, and his brothers were among the leading members of the second generation of descendants of Hashim. In this way he gained two marks of nobility, through his growing up under the care and education of the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family. He was the first of the family of the House and of the Companions to believe in God and His Apostle. He was the first male whom the Prophet, may God bless him and his family, summoned to Islam and who answered.
He constantly defended the faith and fought against those who supported deviation (from the truth) and despotism. He spread the teachings of the sunnah (the practice of the Prophet) and the Qur'an, judged with justice and enjoined (people) to do good.
1. He was the only man to be born in the Kabah (The house of God)
2. He was the first to offer homage to the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H)
3. He was the first to offer prayers after the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H)
4. He was the first to offer his services for Jihad.
5. He was the first to receive religious instructions from the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H)
6. He was the first to compile and codify the Quran
7. He was the first to be styled as "brother" by the Prophet (P.B.U.H) and on every occasion
8. He was the first to give burial to the Prophet (P.B.U.H)
9. He was the first to offer to sleep in the Prophet's (P.B.U.H) bed on the night of his emigration to Medina
10. He was the first to be appointed commander in all those battles in which the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) did not participate personally
11. The honor of the propagation of the Quranic Sura, "al Bara'at" fell to Imam Ali's (as) lot
12. He was the only man to be titled as the "Second Aaron" by the Prophet (P.B.U.H)
13. The honor of owning a house which opened into the courtyard of the Prophet's (P.B.U.H) mosque was reserved for Imam Ali (as) alone
14. He was the first to have the honor of being nominated by the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) as his successor, testator and vice regent.
Imam Ali and the Ancient Prophets
*. God gave Adam the knowledge of His names, while Ali held the entire knowledge of the Book of Allah.
*. Adam was married with Eve in the Garden of Paradise, while God married Imam Ali (as) with Fatima (as) in heaven
*. God styled Noah as a "Grateful Creature" and he was called the Second Adam, while Imam Ali (as) was styled as "Abu'l Ummah"
*. God made Abraham the "Imam" or the "Leaders of men", while Imam Ali (as) was the Imam of all creation, men and Jinnis
*. Moses was brought up in the house of Pharaoh, while Imam Ali (as) was brought up in the house of the Prophet (P.B.U.H)
*. Moses threw his rod which became a serpent, whereas Imam Ali (as), while still in the cradle, cleaved the snake into two
*. Moses name has been mentioned 230 times in the Quran, while Imam Ali's (as) has been referred to in 300 places in the Quran
The Imamate of the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, was for thirty years after the Prophet, may God bless him and his family. For twenty-four years and six months of these he was prevented from administering the laws (of the office) (and had to) exercise precautionary dissimulation (taqiyya) and withdrawal. For five years and six months of these, he was troubled by wars against the hypocrites, those who broke their pledges, the unjust and those who deviated (from the religion) and he was plagued by the seditions of those who had gone astray.
. Then he emigrated and for ten years after the emigration he remained making war on the unbelievers and being troubled by the hypocrites until the time that God, may His name be exalted, took him unto Himself and made him dwell in the gardens of Paradise.
The death of the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him occurred before dawn of Friday, the twenty-first of the month of Ramadan, in the year 40 A.H. He was a victim of the sword. Ibn Muljam al-Muradi, may God curse him, killed him at the mosque of Kufa, which he had come out to in order to wake the people for the dawn prayer on the night of the nineteenth of the month of Ramadan. He had been lying in wait for him from the beginning of the night. When he (the Commander of the faithful) passed by him while the latter was hiding his design by feigning sleep amid a group of people who were asleep, he (Ibn Muljam) sprang out and struck him on the top of his head with his sword which was poisoned.
He lingered through the day of the nineteenth and the night and day of the twentieth and the first third of the night of the twenty-first. Then he, peace be on him, died a martyr and met his Lord, Most High, as one who has been wronged. He, peace be on him, knew of that before its time and he told the people of it before its time. His two sons, al-Hasan and al-Husayn, peace be on them, performed (the tasks) of washing him and shrouding him according to his bequest.
Then they carried him to al-Ghari at Najaf in Kufa and they buried him there. They removed the traces of the place of his burial according to his bequest which was made about that to hath of them by him, because of what he, peace be on him, knew about the regime of the Umayyads (which would come) after him, and their hostile attitude towards him. (For he knew) the evil action and abuse to which they would be led by their wicked intentions if they had been able to know that (place). His grave, peace be on him, remained hidden until al-Sadiq Jafar b. Muhammad, peace be on them, pointed it out during the Abbasid regime. For he visited it when he came to visit Abu Ja'far (al-Mansur) while the latter was in al-Hira. Then the Shi'a knew of it and they began from that time to make visitation to his (grave), peace be on him and on his pure offspring. On the day of his death he was 63 years of age.
source : http://www.14five.com
