161. Nahj al-Balāghah: It is reported that when the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) returned to Kufa from the battle of Siffin, he passed by the tribe of Shibbām (in Yemen) and heard the women weeping over those killed in Siffin. At that time Harb ibn Shurahbil al-Shibāmi came and started walking along with the Imām (a.s.) while he (a.s.) was riding, so he (a.s.) said to him: “Get back because the walking of a man like you with one like me is a trial for the ruler and a humiliation for the believer.”1
162. Imām al-Sādiq (a.s.): The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) set out on horseback with his companions walking behind him. He turned his face back to them and asked: “Do you want anything?”
They replied: “No, O Commander of the Faithful! But we would like to walk along with you.”
He then told them: “Go back, because walking behind a riding man is a mischief for the rider and a humiliation for the walker.”
[The narrator says:] He rode on once again and they followed walking behind him, and he said: “Go back, because the sound of footsteps behind a man corrupts the hearts of the unwise.”2
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Criticizing rather than Admiring
163. Imām Ali (a.s.) – in his instructions to Mālik al-Ashtar, after describing the characteristics of the righteous confidants: “So choose these men as your special companions in privacy and at assemblies. Then let the most influential among them be he who speaks most to you with the bitterness of the truth and
supports you least in activities which God dislikes in His friends, even though this may contradict your pleasure. Cling to men of piety and veracity. Then accustom them not to lavish praise upon you nor (to try to) gladden you by (attributing to you) a vanity you did not do, for lavishing of abundant praise causes arrogance and draws (one) close to pride.”3
1.. Nahj al-Balāghah, Aphorism ۳۲۲, Waq`at Siffin, p. ۵۳۱, al-Mi`yār al-Mawāzin, p. ۱۹۳.
2.. al-Mahāsin, vol. ۲, p. ۴۷۰, h. ۲۶۳۲, al-Kafi, vol. ۶, p. ۵۴۰, h. ۱۶, Tuhaf al-`Uqul, p.۲۰۹.
3.. Nahj al-Balāghah, Letter ۵۳, Tuhaf al-`Uqul, p. ۱۲۹, Bihār al-Anwār, vol. ۳۳, p. ۶۰۲, h. ۷۴۴.
