قال سيدنا المرتضى علم الهدى قدس سره في الشافي في رد كلام قاضي القضاة في خبر الإحراق ما هذا لفظه عليه الرحمة : خبر الإحراق قد رواه غير الشيعة ممن لا يتهم على القوم ، وإن دفع الروايات من غير حجة لا يجدي شيئا 8 .

Our master al-Murtada, 'Alam al-Huda, may his secret be sanctified, said in al-Shafi, in refuting the words of the Chief Judge concerning the report of the burning, and this is his wording, upon him be mercy: The report of the burning has been related by other than the Shi'a, by those who are not suspect in the eyes of the people; and to reject narrations without an argument avails nothing. [8]

فروى البلاذري وحاله في الثقة عند العامة والبعد عن مقاربة الشيعة والضبط لما يرويه معروفة عن المدائني ، عن سلمة بن محارب ، عن سلمان الليثي 9 ، عن ابن عون : إن أبا بكر أرسل علي عليه السلام ، يريده الجبر على البيعة فلم يبايع ، فجاء عمر ومعه قبس ، فلقيته فاطمة على الباب ، فقالت : يا ابن الخطاب أتراك محرقا علي داري ؟

For al-Baladhuri related — and his standing in trustworthiness among the generality, and his distance from any closeness to the Shi'a, and his exactness in what he relates, are well known — from al-Mada'ini, from Salama b. Muharib, from Salman al-Laythi [9], from Ibn 'Awn: that Abu Bakr sent to 'Ali, peace be upon him, seeking to compel him to the pledge; and he did not pledge. So 'Umar came, and with him a brand of fire; and Fatima met him at the door and said: O son of al-Khattab, do I see you about to burn my house down upon me?

قال : نعم ، وذلك أقوى فيما جاء به أبوك وجاء علي فبايع 10 .

He said: Yes; and that is stronger for what your father brought. And 'Ali came and pledged. [10]

وهذا الخبر قد روته الشيعة من طرق كثيرة ، وإنما الطريف أن يرويه شيوخ محدثي العامة .

And this report the Shi'a have related by many paths; but the remarkable thing is that the shaykhs of the traditionists of the generality should relate it.

وروى إبراهيم بن سعيد الثقفي بإسناده ، عن جعفر بن محمد عليهما السلام قال : والله ما بايع علي عليه السلام حتى رأى الدخان قد دخل بيته 11 .

And Ibrahim b. Sa'id al-Thaqafi related, with his chain, from Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be upon them both, who said: By God, 'Ali, peace be upon him, did not pledge until he saw the smoke had entered his house. [11]

وقال السيد ابن طاوس في كشف المحجة في ذكر أبي بكر وتخلفه عن جيش أسامة : وغصبه الخلافة يوم السقيفة ، وأقول : وما كفاه ذلك حتى بعث عمر إلى باب أبيك علي وأمك فاطمة عليهما السلام ، وعندهما العباس وجماعة من بني هاشم وهم مشغولون بموت جدك محمد صلى الله عليه وآله والمآتم والمصائب العظام فأمر أن يحرقوا بالنار إن لم يخرجوا للبيعة على ما ذكره صاحب كتاب العقد الفريد في الجزء الرابع منه وجماعة ممن لا يتهم في روايتهم وهو شئ لم يبلغ إليه أحد فيما أعلم قبله ولا بعده ، من الأنبياء والأوصياء ولا الملوك المعروفين بالقوة والجفاء ولا ملوك الكفار ، أنهم بعثوا من يحرقوا الذين تأخروا عن بيعتهم بحريق النار مضافا إلى تهديد القتل

And al-Sayyid b. Tawus said in Kashf al-Mahajja, in the mention of Abu Bakr and his holding back from the army of Usama: And his usurping of the caliphate on the day of the Saqifa. And I say: that did not suffice him, until he sent 'Umar to the door of your father 'Ali and your mother Fatima, peace be upon them, and with them were al-'Abbas and a company of the Banu Hashim, and they were occupied with the death of your grandfather Muhammad, may God bless him and his Family, and with the mourning and the great afflictions; and he commanded that they be burned with fire if they did not come out for the pledge — according to what the author of the book al-'Iqd al-Farid mentioned in the fourth part of it, and a company of those who are not suspect in their narration. And it is a thing which, so far as I know, none reached before him nor after him, of the prophets or the legatees, nor of the kings known for force and harshness, nor the kings of the unbelievers — that they should send men to burn those who held back from their pledge with the burning of fire, in addition to the threat of killing