عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ اَنَا مَدِينَةُ الْعِلْمِ وَ عَلِيٌّ بَابُهَا فَمَنْ اَرَادَ الْعِلْمَ فَلْيَأْتِ الْبَابَ
Ibn Abbas reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) declared,
“I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate. So, whoever intends (to acquire) knowledge, then he should come to the door.”
Notes:
1) This narration has been reported widely in the books of both the sects.
2) Many attempts at distortion of this narration have been made throughout history by making some people as the foundation, others as wall, windows, etc. But the proof of the pudding lies in its taste. No claimant could ever bring a like of a sermon on Divine Monotheism like those delivered by Ameerul Momineen (peace be upon him) and recorded in books like Nahj al-Balaaghah. Such distortions are nothing more than a joke on Muslims. Worse are the attempts at plagiarizing the teachings of the Ahle Bait (peace be upon him) and passing them off as those of their leaders. But the reality remains that no matter how much you decorate a cactus, it can never become a rose!
Reference:
1. Behaar al-Anwaar, vol. 40, p. 203