294. Imām Ali (a.s.): “This is the commandment of the servant of God the Commander of the Faithful Ali to Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr when he appointed him as the governor of Egypt. He ordered him to be wary of God, secretly and openly; to fear God in privacy and in public; to be gentle with Muslims; to be hard on the evil-doers; to do justice to those under the protective covenant (ahl al-dhimmah from among non Muslims); to be fair to the
oppressed and severe to the oppressors; to pardon people and to be charitable to them as much as possible; God will reward the righteous and punish the sinful.”¹

295. Imām Ali (a.s.) – in his commandment to Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr when he appointed him as the governor of Egypt: “Behave humbly with the people, keep yourself lenient, meet them with cheerfulness, accord them equal treatment so that the big should not expect injustice from you in their favor and the low should not be despondent of your justice to them. O group of His servants, God the Sublime will certainly question you about your actions, small or big, manifest or concealed. If He punishes you, it is because you have been oppressive, and if He forgives, then it is because He is the Most Generous.”²

296. Imām Ali (a.s.) – from his words when he was reproached for showing equality in the distribution (of shares from the public treasury): “Do you command me that I should seek support by oppressing those over whom I have been placed as ruler? By God, I will never do so as long as the world goes on and as long as one star leads another in the sky! Even if it was my wealth, I would have distributed it equally among them, so how would be the case when the wealth is that of God.”³

297. Imām Ali (a.s.): “By God, I would rather pass a night in wakefulness on prickly thorns or be driven in chains as a prisoner than meet God and His Messenger on the Day of Judgment as an oppressor over any person or a usurper of anything out of worldly wealth. How can I oppress any one for the sake of a life that is fast moving towards destruction and [the body that] is to remain under the earth for a long time?”⁴

294. عنه علیه السلام: هذا ما عَهِدَ عَبدُ اللهِ عَلِيٌّ أميرُ المُؤمِنينَ إلى مُحَمَّدِ بنِ أبي بَكر حينَ وَلّاهُ مِصرَ؛ أمَرَهُ بِتَقوَى اللهِ وَالطّاعَةِ لَهُ فِي السِّرِّ وَالعَلانِيَةِ، وخَوفِ اللهِ في الغَيبِ والمَشهَدِ، وبِاللّينِ لِلمُسلِمِ، وبِالغِلظَةِ عَلَى الفاجِرِ، وبِالعَدلِ عَلى أهلِ الذِّمَّةِ، وبِإِنصافِ المَظلومِ، وبِالشِّدَّةِ عَلَى الظّالِمِ، وبِالعَفوِ عَنِ النّاسِ، وبِالإِحسانِ ما استَطاعَ؛ وَاللهُ يَجزِي المُحسِنينَ ويُعَذِّبُ المُجرِمينَ.¹

295. عنه علیه السلام ـ في عَهدِهِ إلى مُحَمَّدِ بنِ أبي بَكرٍ حينَ قَلَّدَهُ مِصرَ ـ: فَاخفِض لَهُم جَناحَكَ، وألِن لَهُم جانِبَكَ، وَابسُط لَهُم وَجهَكَ، وآسِ بَينَهُم فِي اللَّحظَةِ وَالنَّظرَةِ، حَتّى لا يَطمَعَ العُظَماءُ في حَيفِكَ لَهُم، ولا يَيأَسَ الضُّعَفاءُ مِن عَدلِكَ عَلَيهِم؛ فَإِنَّ اللهَ تَعالى يُسائِلُكُم ـ مَعشَرَ عِبادِهِ ـ عَنِ الصَّغيرَةِ مِن أعمالِكُم وَالكَبيرَةِ، وَالظّاهِرَةِ وَالمَستورَةِ، فَإنِ يُعذِّب فَأَنتُم أظلَمُ، وإن يَعفُ فَهُوَ أكرَمُ.²

296. عنه علیه السلام ـ مِن كَلام لَهُ لَمّا عوتِبَ عَلَى التَّسوِيَةِ فِي العَطاءِ ـ: أَ تَأمُرونّي أن أطلُبَ النَّصرَ بِالجَورِ فيمَن وُلّيتُ عَلَيهِ! وَاللهِ لا أطورُ بِهِ ما سَمَرَ سَميرٌ،³ وما أَمَّ نَجمٌ فِي السَّماءِ نَجماً! لَو كانَ المالُ لي لَسَوَّيتُ بَينَهُم، فَكَيفَ وإنَّمَا المالُ مالُ اللهِ؟!⁴

297. عنه علیه السلام: وَاللهِ لاََن أبيتَ عَلى حَسَكِ السَّعدانِ مُسَهَّداً، أو اُجَرَّ فِي الأَغلالِ مُصَفَّداً، أحَبُّ إلَيَّ مِن أن ألقَى اللهَ ورَسولَهُ يَومَ القِيامَةِ ظالِماً لِبَعضِ العِبادِ، وغاصِباًلِشَيء مِنَ الحُطامِ. وكَيفَ أظلِمُ أحَداً لِنَفس يُسرِعُ إلَى البِلى قُفولُها، ويَطولُفِي الثَّرى حُلولُها؟!⁵