About him, Imam Zayn ul-Abidin (a) said: "Allah may have mercy upon my uncle, al-Abbas. He preferred his brother to himself, did well, and sacrificed himself for his brother until he lost his two hands for sake of such."
About him, Imam as-Sadiq (a) said:
"My uncle al-Abbas was clear-sighted, steadfastly faithful… etc."
About him, Imam al-Mahdi (a) said:
"Salaam be upon Abu'l-Fadl al-Abbas, son of Amir ul-Mu'minin. He preferred his brother to himself, supplied himself with (opportunities of) today for (rewards of) tomorrow, sacrificed himself for his brother, protected him, hurried for fetching him water, and his two hands were cut (for such)."
Al-Abbas, after all, was the righteous servant of God and the epitome of heroism.

THE PURE LINEAGE

Undoubtedly the family relation with the great personalities is an honor and dignity, especially when such great personality is the choice of God and the seal of the prophets. Al-Abbas ibn Ali enjoyed a close relation with Prophet Mohammad (a) since he was the son of Ali ibn Abi-Talib who was an independent source of honor and dignity. About Ali, the Prophet (a) and his family, said:
"My brother Ali ibn Abi-Talib enjoys innumerable merits. Neither jinn nor can human beings count them."
Mohammed ibn Idris ash-Shafii; the founder of the Shafiite school of law answered those who asked him to say his opinion about Ali:
"What can we say about a person whose partisans have had to hide his merits because of fear, and enemies have hidden his merits out of envy? But between these two, his merits that have become widely known are too numerous to be counted." ¹
Ibn Abi'l-Hadid; the Mutazilite, says:
"The merits of Ali ibn Abi-Talib are too great and familiar to be mentioned or detailed. Even his enemies and rivalries could do nothing but confessing of the unmatched virtue of this man whose advantages are unconcealed and excellences are unrestrained. Everybody knows that when the Umayyads held the reins of the Islamic world, they spared no single effort for extinguishing the light of Imam Ali and inventing flaws against him. Moreover, they issued the decisions of cursing him openly from the mimbars of their mosques and sentenced to death everyone who would mention any of his incalculable merits. They also prevented people from reporting any narration that may refer to any of his excellences. Finally, they even prevented people from calling his name on their newborns. Nevertheless, all these procedures exalted Ali's reputation and took him to more elevated levels. He was like musk whose perfume spreads when it is screened, and like the sun that cannot be screened by one's palm, and like daylight that is seen by many eyes if one eye is closed against it." ²
Thus was the father of al-Abbas who has every right to take pride in him and learns from his morals, ethics, and excellences.

THE IMMACULATE WOMB

From the maternal side, al-Abbas was the son of a great lady; namely Umm-ul-Banin, who enjoyed excellent lineage and personality. In addition to her high moral standards, she was well known of her loyalty to the Ahl-ul-Bayt ³ and her devoutness. Therefore, she occupied an elevated position in the sight of the Ahl-ul-Bayt who praised her in many occasions and showed her great respect.
Because of such remarkable care for Imam Ali's sons and daughters, God has given Umm-ul-Banin exclusive positions and made her a means that takes to Him and a way through which the suppliants' most complicated problems are solved.
On the hands of her noble parents, Umm-ul-Banin was brought up on righteous moralities and the highest ethical standards that she became fit to be the wife of Imam Ali (a) and a compassionate mother for the chiefs of the youth of Paradise. ⁴
This great lady gave birth of four courageous sons the elder among whom was Abu'l-Fadhl al-Abbas. He, as well as his full brothers, acquired the qualities of courage and bravery from their mother whose descendants were the most courageous among the Arabs. Umm-ul-Banin, then, contributed in the composition of the personalities of her four sons who showed unmatched courage on the day of Ashura and sacrificed themselves for their religion and its representative; Imam al-Hussein (a).

SERIES OF FATHERS

Ancestry plays a considerable role in the construction of personalities. It has a great influence in self-discipline and behavior. On that account, genealogy, which is the branch of knowledge that deals with the investigation of the details of ancestry, occupies a significant position in the society because of the influence of heredity, which has been proved through many scientific researches, on the structure of both individuals and communities.
In addition, many Islamic laws have depended mainly on genealogy, especially in fields of inheritance, taxes, regard of relatives, and blood money of the unintentional killing… etc. A genealogist, like any other specialist to whom it is referred in matters relating to his special domain, enjoys a substantial position in the religious, social, and ethical affairs.
Aqil ibn Abi-Talib was the most celebrated in this field. In addition to his being the descendant of that unparalleled pedigree, he was the reference to whom people submit in fields of genealogy. He could discern the sources of glory, distinguish the Arab tribes, and tell between the deep-rooted ones and the disreputable.
In the center of the Prophet's Masjid , Aqil used to be encircled by all those who are interested in genealogy as well as the history and origins of the Arab tribes to listen to him carefully and trust whatever he would tell.
Historians have reported uninterruptedly that Imam Ali (a) summoned his brother Aqil and asked:

"Choose for me a woman who is the descendant of the Arab heroes so that I will marry her and she will give birth of a horseman.⁶"
Aqil answered his brother:
"Marry Umm-ul-Banin, from the tribe of Kelab, for no Arab individual is more courageous than her fathers and forefathers."

FATHERS

Al-Abbas is the son of Ali, son of Abu-Talib, son of Abd-ul-Muttalib, son of Hashim, son of Abd-Menaf, son of Qussay, son of Kelab, son of Murra, son of Kaab, son of Luway, son of Ghalib, son of Fihr, son of Malik, son of an-Nadhr, son of Kenana, son of Khuzayma, son of Mudrika, son of Ilias, son of Madhar, son of Nizar, son of Maad, son of Adnan…
As we recite the Prophet's saying, 'When you refer to my fathers, you should stop at Adnan,' we have to stop at him, because of, as it seems, the difficulty in pronouncing the names of the other fathers utterly or because errors might occur in the series of their names.
However, it is unacceptable to mistake intentionally the names of those whose descendant was the great Prophet Mohammed (s).
To have little discussion about fathers of the Prophet (s), we may refer, first of all, to the following point:
We believe that all fathers of the Prophet (s) up to Adam are pure in birth and belief. In other words, all ancestors of the Prophet (a) were believers as none of them had ever worshipped an idol or anything other than Almighty God. The holy Quran proves this fact by saying:
"And rely on the Mighty, the Merciful Who sees you when you stand up and (watched you during) your turning over and over among those (ancestors) who prostrate themselves before Allah. Surely, He is the Hearing, the Knowing." ⁷

Any contrary matter that may be arisen must be interpreted in a way befitting this principle. For instance, the one to whom the holy Quran has referred as being Prophet Abraham's father was not his father. He was either his uncle or maternal grandfather. All historians have proved that Prophet Abraham's father was called 'Tarikh', not 'Azar,' as the Quran says -(Consider when Abraham asked his father, Azar, "Why do you believe idols to be your gods? I find you and your people in absolute error."⁸ -
In addition, the holy Quran, in another situation, refers to the uncle as father: (Were you-believers-there when death approached Jacob? When he asked his sons, "Whom will you worship after my death?" They replied, "We will worship your Lord, the Lord of your fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac. He is the only Lord, and to Him we have submitted ourselves." ⁹)
Prophet Isaac was the uncle of Jacob. Nevertheless, the Lord has added him to 'fathers'. Prophet Mohammed (s) declared that all his ancestors were not worshippers of anything other than Almighty God, and were not the products of illegitimate copulation:
"When Allah wanted to create us, He made us in a form of a pillar of light in the spine of Adam. Hence, that light was shining in his forehead. That pillar, then, moved to Shith his successor who received the commandment of his father that he must not put that pillar in any place other than wombs of purified women. With the moving of this pillar of light, this commandment moved with it. Hence, only the celebrities could carry that pillar of light and only the purified women carried it. When it reached the spine of Abd-ul-Muttalib, that pillar was divided into two parts-one went to Abdullah who moved it to the womb of Amina, and the other went to Abu-Talib who moved it to the womb of Fatima bint Asad."¹⁰
Let us now refer briefly to the fathers of al-Abbas:

ADNAN

Historical reports have conveyed that Adnan, through many speeches, foretold about the coming of Prophet Mohammed (s) who would be one of his descendants. He also commanded the next generations to follow him.

MAAD

Maad, who was following the religion of his forefather Prophet Abraham, was a great warrior. He used to lead campaigns against the Israelites who apostatized the belief of monotheism. When Nebuchadnezzar besieged and destroyed Jerusalem, God gave His orders to one of his prophets to carry Maad with him so as to save him from any injury. The Lord also told, by revelation, that prophet that one of the descendants of Maad would be the seal of the prophets. Hence, Maad was taken to Syria until that campaign ceased. ¹¹

NIZAR

Historians have also told that Nizar was a famous celebrity from whose forehead light of prophecy was glittering. ¹²

MADHAR

It is related that Prophet Mohammad (s) warned against reviling at Madhar (and Rab?'a) because these were two faithful individuals who believed in Almighty God. Besides, Madhar was a wise man some of whose maxims have been recorded in books of history.

ILIAS