Yaqoub bin Yazid told us on the authority of Al-Hassan bin Mahboub on the authority of Muhammad bin Al-Fadil on the authority of Abi Al-Hassan, peace be upon him, he said the wilayah of Ali is written in all the books of the prophets, and God will not send a prophet except with the prophethood of Muhammad and the wilayah of his wali Ali, peace be upon him.
Narrated from imam Sadiq AS in a long hadith:
(And before him was the book of Moses an imam and mercy) He said it was the wilayah of Ali in the book of Moses
6. Muhammad ibn Isma‘il has narrated from al-Fadl ibn Shadhan from Hammad ibn ‘Isa from RibIsma‘il ibn ‘Abdallah from abu Ja‘far (a.s) about the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Gracious, “Had they followed the Laws of the Old and New Testaments and what was revealed to them from their Lord,. .” (5:66) The Imam (a.s) said, “It refers to Wilaya, (Leadership with Divine Authority).”
We will start with what a researcher has found regarding the Hebrew version of the Torah regarding the mention of imam Ali AS:
Exodus 8:5(9) (Hebrew) wayyomer Moshe lefar’o hithpa-er ‘Ali lemathay a’tir lekha wela’avadhekha ul’ammekha lehakhrith hatzfarde’immimmekha umibbattekha raq baye-or tish-sha-arna. And Moses said to Pharaoh, Glorify Ali: when shall I intreat for you, and for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only?
The translation which says “Glory over me” simply does not make sense.
Numbers 21:17 (Hebrew) az yashir yisra-el eth hash-shira hazzoth ‘Ali ve-er ‘enu lah. Then Israel sang this song, Ali (the Exalted one) is a well (of water); sing to it.
The translation that says “Rise up, O well” only fits a surealistic painting. In reality, wells do not fly.
So the monk turned his face towards Ali (peace be upon him), then said: Ya fata, what is your name? He said: My name according to the Jews is Alyiah, according to the Christians Eilia, according to my father Ali, and according to my mother Haidara (…) So the monk got up, cut off his waistband, took his head and kissed between his eyes, and said: I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, and I bear witness that you are the caliph and the trustee of this nation, the source of religion and wisdom, and the wellspring of the source of argument. I have read your name in the Torah Aliyah, and in the Gospel Eilia, in the Qur'an Alia, and in the previous books, Haidara
And speaking of the gospel;
10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Eilia must come first?” 11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Eilia comes and will restore all things. (Matthew 17)
11 And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Eilia must come first?” 12 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Eilia does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? (Mark 9)
The phrase “comes first” means that imam Ali AS comes before imam Mahdi AJ (the son of man)
As for the preceding verses that say “Elijah has already come”, the Christian interpretation claims it talks about prophet Yahya AS (John the Baptist); but he AS himself claimed he is not the awaited Elijah/Eilia:
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders[c] in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Eilia?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”
The messiah is prophet Isa AS, the prophet is Muhammad SAWA, and Eilia is imam Ali AS
The Imam (AS) said: Then I ask you to swear by God, and tell me whether or not the Bible says that John said: `The Messiah has informed me of the religion of Muhammad, the Arab, and has given me the glad tidings about him who will be (a Prophet) after him. Therefore, I have the glad tidings of him to the disciples and they believed in him.’ The Catholicos said: “John did quote this from the Messiah. He did give the glad tidings concerning the coming of a Prophet, his Household, and his Successor.
If you’re wondering what the disciples were taking about:
5 “See, I will send the prophet Eilia to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” (Malachi 4)
Now, the text may say “the prophet Elijah” but if you see the Christian interpretation of this verse, it says:
The Jewish interpreters were divided into two groups in their interpretation of this phrase. One group thought that Elijah himself would come to the world to prepare the way for the Messiah. Others thought that a man would come with the spirit of Elijah. tafseer link (translate to English)
And you can also see in the gospels that Eilia wasn’t referred to as a prophet. But in fact, “the prophet” and “Eilia” came as two different individuals. So perhaps what the text originally said was “I will send to them the prophet (Muhammad SAWA) and Eilia (imam Ali AS)” but Allahu aalam. And this could also refer to dabbat al Ard being imam Ali AS
Al-Hassan bin Ahmed told us, on the authority of Muhammad bin Isa, on the authority of Yunus bin Abdul Rahman, on the authority of Sama’a bin Mahran, on the authority of Al-Fadl bin Zaid, on the authority of Ibn Nabatah, he said: Muawiyah said to me: O Shia community, do you claim that Ali is Dabbat al Ard? I said: We say, and the Jews say. So Muawiyah sent to ra’s al Jaloot And he said: I dare you to find dabbat al Ard written in your books , And what is he? Do you know what his name is? He said: Yes, his name is Eilia. He said: He turned to me and said, Woe to you, O Asbagh! How close is Eilia to Alia (2).
So back to the Hadith of “ya fata”, the jew says “and in the previous books haidara”. So I’ve looked into the Hebrew spelling of the Old Testament and I found in the psalms of Dawood AS:
To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious hă-ḏar of his kingdom (psalms 145:12) see the text here
Again, not confirming this is true. I am only speculating. However the name “haydara” is also in Sunni sources:
The latter advanced chanting: Khaibar knows certainly that I am Marhab, A fully armed and well-tried valorous warrior (hero) When war comes spreading its flames. 'Ali chanted in reply: I am the one whose mother named him Haidar, (And am) like a lion of the forest with a terror-striking countenance. I give my opponents the measure of sandara in exchange for sa' (i. e. return thir attack with one that is much more fierce).
There’s another narration that mentions the names of imam Ali AS in different books and cultures and here’s a part of it:
And in the scrolls the stone of the eye (Hajar Al-Ain) and in the Qur’an (Aliya).
So I looked into the mention of Hajar al Ain in the Old Testament and here’s what I found:
8 A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor; Wherever he turns, he prospers.(proverbs 17)
And the interpretation about this verse says:
Here he does not talk about bribery, but rather the gift of love, which establishes love between the two parties.
As for aliya in the holy Quran:
From Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Hashim Al Qumi RA in his tafseer:
“...and what they worshipped besides Allah, We gave to him Ishaq and Yaqub, and each one of them We made a prophet. And We granted to them of Our mercy...” (Surah Maryam 19:49-50) That is: We gave Ishaq and Yaqub to Ibrahim (a). ‘Our mercy’ implies the Messenger of Allah (s). “
...and We left (behind them) a truthful mention of eminence for them.” (Surah Maryam 19:50) It implies Amirul Momineen Imam Ali (a), which my father has narrated to me from Imam Hasan Askari (a)
3. We were told by Ahmad bin Ali bin Ibrahim bin Hashim, may Allah grant him mercy, that he said: We were told by my father, from my grandfather, from Hammad bin Isa, from Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, with regards to the saying of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Guide us the Straight Path» (1:5). He said: It is the Commander of the Believers, peace be upon him, and conscious knowledge of him, and the proof that it is the Commander of the Believers, peace be upon him, is His saying, Exalted and Glorious is He: «And indeed, he is in the Foundation of the Book, for us, certainly, Ali, the wise.» (43:4) [1] And it is the Commander of the Believers, peace be upon him, in the Foundation of the Book, in His saying, Exalted and Glorious is He: «Guide us the Straight Path».
Ma’ani al Akhbar (this narration is also in tafseer al Qumi directly narrated from imam Sadiq AS)
Saad bin Abdullah said: Musa bin Jaafar bin Wahb Al-Baghdadi told us, on the authority of Ali bin Asbat, on the authority of Muhammad bin Al-Fadhi On the authority of Abi Hamza Al-Thamali, on the authority of Abi Abdullah (peace be upon him) who said: I asked him about the words of God Almighty: هذا صراط علي مستقيم He said: He is - by Allah - Ali (peace be upon him), he is - by Allah - the balance and the straight path.
The first two narrations have authentic isnad while the third one is corroborated by other narrations in al Burhan as well as tafseer Furat al Kufi
There are many mentions of imam Ali AS scattered around the world and this only the best I could do so I hope imam Mahdi AJ can forgive me…
We conclude with an excerpt from the 7th ziyarah of imam Ali AS:
Peace be upon al naba’ al a’theem, peace be upon the one about whom Allah sent down and that he is in the Mother of the Book with us. Indeed, Ali the wise, peace be upon Allah’s straight path, peace be upon who is described in the Torah, the Gospel and the wise Qur’an and Allah’s mercy and blessings.