Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Abu al-Tufayl said to Imam Ali (peace be upon him): "O Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him)! Regarding the words of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: 'And when the decree of punishment befalls them [when they stand at the threshold of the resurrection], We will bring forth for them a creature from the earth that will speak to them [saying] that the people did not believe in Our signs.' (Naml/82) — what is meant by دَابَّةً (the creature)?" He said: "O Aba Tufayl, let this question pass." I said: "O Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him)! May I be made your ransom, inform me of it." He said: "It is a creature that [like the rest of the people] eats food, walks in the markets, and marries women." I said: "O Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him)! Who is he?!" He said: "The axis of the earth, by whose existence the earth finds tranquility." I said: "O Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him)! Who is he?!" He said: "He is the siddiq (truthful one) of this ummah, its faruq (the one who distinguishes truth from falsehood), the man of Allah, and its Dhul-Qarnayn!" I said: "O Commander of the Faithful! Who is he?!" He said: "The one about whom Allah has said: وَ یَتْلُوهُ شاهِدٌ مِنْهُ [And a witness from Him recites it], and the one with whom is the knowledge of the Book (Ra'd/43), and the one who brought the truth and confirmed it (Zumar/33), while all the people apart from him were disbelievers." (Meaning: at the time when he believed, all others were disbelievers, and he was the first believer.) I said: "O Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him)! Who is he? Name him for me!" He said: "I have named him for you! O Abu Tufayl! By Allah! Even if I were to go to these very Shia of mine, alongside whom I fight, those who have professed obedience to me and named me the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) and deemed lawful the jihad against those who oppose me, and I were to speak to them about some of the truths of the Book which Jibra'il brought down upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), they would scatter from around me, and I would be left with only a small band of the truth — such as you and those like you from among my Shia." I became alarmed and said: "O Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him)! Will I and those like me scatter from around you, or shall we remain?" He said: "No! You will remain!" Then he turned to me and said: "Indeed our affair is a difficult, arduous matter; none recognises it or acknowledges it except three: a close-drawn angel, a messenger prophet (peace be upon him), or a pure and virtuous believing servant whose heart Allah has tested for faith."