Jami' at-Tirmidhi — Hadith #29883

Abdullah bin Abi Ziyad narrated to us, he said, Al-Ahwas bin Jawab Abu Al-Jawab narrated to us, on the authority of Yunus bin Abi Ishaq, on the authority of Abi Ishaq, on the authority of Al-Baraa, he said: The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, sent two armies and commanded Ali bin Abi Talib over one of them, and Khaled bin Al-Walid over the other. And he said, “If the fighting is real,” he said, “Ali conquered a fort and took a slave girl from it. Then Khaled wrote a letter with me to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. He spoke highly of him. He said, “I came to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and he read the letter and its color changed. Then he said, ‘What do you see in a man who loves God and His Messenger, and God and His Messenger love him.” He said, “I seek refuge in God from the wrath of God and from the wrath of His Messenger, and I am only a messenger.” He remained silent. Abu Issa said: This is a good and strange hadith. We do not know it except from this perspective.