affairs may be taken to be based on pride. I really hate that it may occur to your mind that I love high praises or to hear eulogies. By the Grace of Allah, I am not like this. Even if I had loved to be mentioned like this, I would have quickly given it up in submissiveness before God ....”
“Do not address me in the same manner despots are addressed, do not evade me as the people of passion are (to be) evaded, do not meet me with flattery and do not think that I shall take it badly if a true thing is said to me or think that I wish to be admired, because the person who finds the truth said to him or justice presented to him unbearable, it would be more difficult for him to act upon them.”¹
Furthermore, he draws the following conclusion from his words:
فَلا تَكُفّوا عَنّي مَقالَةٍ بِحَقٍّ أو مَشورَةٍ بِعَدلٍ، فَإِنّي لَستُ فى نَفسي بِفَوقِ أن اُخطِئَ و لا آمَنُ ذلِكَ مِن فِعلي إلّا أن يَكفِيَ اللهُ مِن نَفسي ما هُوَ أملَكُ بِهِ مِنّي.Therefore, do not abstain from saying the truth to me or pointing out a matter of justice, because I do not regard myself being immune from mistake. I am not immune from making mistakes in my actions, unless God helps me in my affairs as He is more Powerful than I am.²
By these words, Imām Ali (a.s.) clearly expressed that if it were not through God’s assistance and his Divine infallibility (`ismah), he would possibly fall into mistakes too. Despite his enjoyment of this Divine immunity, he did not want people to be hindered by his political and spiritual status from criticizing him, and stressed that if they realized anything mischievous and wrong in his government, they must proceed and point it out to him.
In other words, by responding to the excessive admiration of that person, Imām (a.s.) on one hand firmly condemned the bad custom of praising the commanders and political authorities in the Muslim community, and on the other hand, he wanted to develop in people the spirit of criticizing and scrutinizing the actions of the authorities

He (a.s.) asked his administrators to appoint their associates, consultants and companions, from among people who were more straight forward in their impartiality and their sincerity. They were told that they must treat them in a way that they would never appeal to flattery, evade any criticism or excessively praise [others]. He (a.s.) would also openly and staunchly oppose any praises [made to himself] and mordantly respond to those who praised him. He asked people neither to praise nor to flatter him for his Divine duties, but instead to criticize him benevolently if they found anything wrong with his plans or if they found his manners in need of criticism, and that they should not talk to him the way they talk to the tyrants.
Interestingly enough, the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) had brought up the issue of letting others criticize him, not only in regular circumstances but even on the most critical occasions of his government, like amid the battle of Siffin.
It so happened that in an exciting speech, Imām (a.s.) made some remarks regarding the mutual rights of the leadership and the people. One of his companions who was very excited by these points began as usual to praise and applaud him while expressing his loyalty. Without being influenced by his praising and applause or even being concerned about the sensitive and critical current circumstances, Imām (a.s.) responded to such admiration as follows:
وإنَّ مِن أسخَفِ حالاتِ الوُلاةِ عِندَ صالِحِ النّاسِ أن يُظَنَّ بِهِم حُبُّ الفَخرِ، ويُوضَعَ أمرُهُم عَلَى الكِبْرِ. وقَد كَرِهتُ أن يَكونَ جَالَ في ظَنِّكُم أنّي اُحِبُّ الإطراءَ وَاستِماعَ الثَّناءِ ، ولَستُ بِحَمدِاللهِ كَذلِكَ، وَلَو كُنتُ اُحِبُّ أن يُقالَ ذلِكَ لَتَرَكتُهُ انحِطاطاً للهِِ سُبحانَهُ... .
فَلا تُكَلِّموني بِما تُكَلَّمُ بِهِ الجَبابِرَةُ، ولاتَتَحَفَّظوا مِنّي بِما يُتَحَفَّظُ بِهِ عِندَ أهلِ البادِرَةِ، ولاتُخالِطوني بِالمُصانَعَةِ، ولاتَظُنُّوا بِي استِثقالاً في حَقٍّ قيلَ لي، ولاَالتِماسَ إعظام لِنَفسي، فَإِنَّهُ مَنِ استَثْقَلَ الحَقَّ أن يُقالَ لَهُ أوِ العَدلَ أن يُعرَضَ عَلَيهِ كانَ العَمَلُ بِهِما أثقَلَ عَلَيهِ.“According to righteous people, the worst trait of rulers is that it may be thought about them that they love glory, and their