Imam Ali (peace be upon him) — in Tafsir of Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him) it is reported: Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) passed by a group of Muslims among whom there was no one from the Muhajirin or the Ansar. He (peace be upon him) said: "One day the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) sent an army toward a people of the disbelievers, and for a long while no news of them arrived. The Prophet's mind became preoccupied with this matter and he said: 'If only someone would come and bring me news of the army.' While the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) was speaking about this, a bearer of good news arrived and announced the victory of the army of Islam — that they had killed a number of the enemy, wounded and captured others, plundered their wealth, and taken their children and women captive. When the army of Islam drew near to Medina, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) hastened out toward them. When he met their commander, who was Zayd ibn Haritha, and Zayd saw the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), he came toward him and kissed the hand and foot of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) kissed Zayd's head. Then Abdullah ibn Rawaha came into the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and kissed the hand and foot of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) pressed him to his chest. Qays ibn Asim al-Minqari also came into his presence and kissed the hand and foot of the Prophet, and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) pressed him to his chest. The rest of the army dismounted and sent salutations and blessings upon the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and he prayed for their good. Then he said: 'Tell me about your encounter with your enemies.' They said: 'We advanced upon them and entered the city, but they shut the doors of their houses against us. We waited until midnight, and at midnight the doors opened. While everyone was asleep, we plundered all the houses. Only four persons from our army did not take part in this — Zayd ibn Haritha, who was on one side of the camp busy with prayer and reciting the Quran; Abdullah ibn Rawaha, who in another corner was reciting the Quran and praying; and Qatada ibn al-Nu'man and Qays ibn Asim, who in another corner were engaged in worship. In that dark, gloomy night the enemy attacked us and shot arrows at us, and since they were defending themselves in their own city and knew its roads and positions while we did not know them, we said: We are bewildered, and in this dark night we have no power to ward off the arrows. In the midst of this we saw a light coming out from the mouth of Qays ibn Asim al-Minqari like a blazing fire, and a light coming out from the mouth of Qatada ibn al-Nu'man like the brightness of Venus and Jupiter, and a light coming out from the mouths of Abdullah ibn Rawaha and Zayd ibn Haritha like the shining of the moon on a dark night and the rays of the sun.'" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "As for the light that came out from the mouth of Zayd ibn Haritha, which was more luminous than the rays of the sun — Zayd was the most honoured of the group and the most virtuous of the army, and Allah is aware of the states of this servant, so He chose him and selected him by His knowledge. And on that very day which coincided with the night of battle, when the Muslims overcame the enemy, one of the hypocrites from the army came to Zayd, intending to spoil the relationship between Zayd and Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him). He said to Zayd: 'Blessed are you! You have no equal among the Ahl al-Bayt and the companions, and this rank and light that shone from you and which we witnessed is a trial for you.' Zayd said to that man: 'O Abdullah, observe taqwa (Allah-consciousness) and do not go to excess in your speech, and do not raise my rank above what it is, for you yourself are opposing and denying this rank, and if I accept your words I shall be like you. O Abdullah, shall I not inform you of a matter that occurred at the beginning of Islam and afterwards, until the time when the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) entered Medina and gave Fatima (peace be upon her) in marriage to Ali (peace be upon him), and Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them) were born?' The man said: 'Yes, inform me of it.' Zayd said: 'The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) loved me greatly, to the extent that he adopted me as a son, and I was called Zayd ibn Muhammad, until Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them), the sons of Ali (peace be upon him), were born. Because of them I did not like that I too should be called the son of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and I said: Call me Zayd, the devotee of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), for it is not becoming for me to be placed on a par with and made like Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them) in this matter. This continued until Allah confirmed my belief and revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) the noble verse ما جَعَلَ اللهُ لِرَجُلٍ مِنْ قَلْبَیْنِ فِی جَوْفِهِ [Allah has not made for any man two hearts within him] — meaning, Allah has not placed two hearts in anyone, that with one heart he should love Muhammad and his family (peace be upon them) and honour them, and with another heart honour others to the same degree as them, or with another heart love their enemies. So whoever loves their enemies is in fact showing enmity to the Ahl al-Bayt, and whoever places others on the same rank as them holds a grudge against the Ahl al-Bayt and will not have love for them. Then He said: ما جَعَلَ أَزْواجَکُمُ اللَّائِی تُظاهِرُونَ مِنْهُنَّ أُمَّهاتِکُمْ وَ ما جَعَلَ أَدْعِیاءَکُمْ أَبْناءَکُمْ ... وَ أُولُوا الْأَرْحامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلی بِبَعْضٍ فِی کِتابِ اللهِ [nor has He made your wives whose backs you liken to the backs of your mothers as your mothers, nor has He made those whom you assert to be your sons your real sons ... and the possessors of relationship are more entitled to inheritance from one another in the Book of Allah] — meaning Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them), who in the Book of Allah are more deserving of being called sons of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and it is obligatory upon the Muhajirin and the believers to treat their friends with goodness, kindness and honour, but in such a way that even their love for them does not reach the level of their love for their own children. This is among the matters mentioned in the Quran, but they abandoned it to the extent that they were saying: "Zayd is the son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)." This continued and they were addressing me as the son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and I was displeased with this, until the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) once again established the bond of brotherhood between himself and Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him).' Then Zayd said: 'O Abdullah, indeed Zayd is a devotee of Ali (peace be upon him) just as he is a devotee of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), so do not place him on the same level as this great man, and do not raise Zayd above his rank; otherwise we shall be like the Christians who raised the station of Isa (peace be upon him) beyond its bounds and thereby disbelieved in the Mighty Allah.'" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "It was because of these words of Zayd that Allah granted him the virtue and honour which you have witnessed. By the One who chose me for prophethood, that light which you have seen is very small compared with what Allah has prepared for Zayd in the Hereafter. On the Day of Resurrection Zayd will come forth in such a state that his light will travel before him, behind him, on his left and right, above and below, and from every direction, a distance of a thousand years' journey."