14. Imām Ali (a.s.): “O God! You know that I had not been seeking authority or the loftiness of dominion and leadership. Rather, I want to uphold Your commands, implement Your law, put things in their right order, restore rights to its people, move according to the path of Your Prophet and guide the misled towards the lights of Your guidance.”1
15. Imām Ali (a.s.): “Your allegiance to me was not by accident, nor is my position and your position the same. I seek you for God’s sake, but you seek me for your own benefits. O People! Assist me over your selves [despite your desires], and by God I will take revenge for the oppressed from the oppressor, and I will drag the oppressor from his nose until I bring him to the source of truth, even if he is reluctant.”2
16. Imām Ali (a.s.): “People revolted against this man [`Uthmān], and while I was secluded, they killed him. They then chose me to rule despite my reluctance, and had it not been for the fear for religion, I would have not accepted them.”3
17. Imām Ali (a.s.) –in a letter to the Kufans: “God knows that I did not have any choice but to enter this affair, and if I knew that there was someone more deserving than myself I would not enter it.”4
18. Imām Ali (a.s.): “By God, I did not undertake it [the caliphate] for other than the fear that a billy goat from the Umayyads would seize it and play with the Book of God Almighty.” 5
1.. Sharh Nahj al-Balāghah, vol. ۲۰, p. ۲۹۹, h. ۴۱۴, al-Darajāt al-Rafi`a, p.۳۸.
2.. Nahj al-Balāghah, Sermon ۱۳۶, al-Irshād, vol. ۱, p. ۲۴۳.
3.. Tārikh al-Tabari, vol. ۴, p. ۴۹۱, Fath al-Bāri, vol. ۱۳, p. ۵۷.
4.. al-Jamal, p. ۲۵۹.
5.. Ansāb al-Ashrāf, vol. ۲, p. ۳۵۳, narrating from Habib ibn Abi Thābit.