He said: Ismail ibn Mihran related to us, saying: Ubayd Allah ibn Abi al-Harth al-Hamdani related to me, saying: A group of Quraysh came to the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and said to him: O Commander of the Faithful, if you gave preference to the nobles, they would be the more likely to counsel you sincerely. He said: The Commander of the Faithful grew angry, then said: O people, do you bid me seek justice through injustice against those over whom I have been given charge? By God, that shall never be, so long as night-talkers tell their tales and so long as I see a star in the sky! By God, even if the wealth were my own and not theirs, I would divide it equally among them — how then, when it is their own wealth? Then he said: O people, whoever bestows his bounty on those unworthy of it earns nothing but the praise of the base and the acclaim of the ignorant; and should his foot slip, they prove the worst of comrades and the worst of friends. (al-Sara'ir, vol. 1, p. 564)
A group of Quraysh notables came before the Commander of the Faithful (AS) and proposed that he give the nobles preference in the allotment of the public treasury, so that their hearts might be drawn to him. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) grew angry and said: Shall I obtain justice through injustice?! Never will I do such a thing! The public treasury is the people's wealth; even were it my own, I would not do so. Then he said: O people, whoever squanders his wealth on the unworthy, and in a place where God's good pleasure is not found, gains nothing but the flattery of base men and the praise of the ignorant. Such people, moreover, stand by a man only so long as fortune smiles on him; in his hour of need, they are the worst of his companions.
Ahmad, from al-Husayn, from Muhammad ibn al-Fudayl, from Sa'd al-Jallab, from Abu Abd Allah (AS), who said: The Commander of the Faithful (AS) would dissociate himself from the Qadariyya in every unit of prayer, saying: By God's power I stand and I sit. (al-Sara'ir, vol. 1, p. 602)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: When rising in the prayer, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) would say: Bi-hawl Allah aqumu wa aq'ud — By God's power I stand and I sit. This sentence negates both compulsion and utter delegation, and affirms something between the two.
Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, from al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Faddal, from Abu Ishaq Tha'laba, from Abd Allah ibn Hilal, who said: I said to Abu Abd Allah (AS): Our circumstances have changed for the worse. He said: Then supplicate in your obligatory prayer. I said: Is it permitted in the obligatory prayer that I name my need, for religion and for this world? He said: Yes — for the Messenger of God (PBUH) performed the qunut and prayed concerning a people by their names and the names of their fathers and their clans, and Ali (AS) did so after him. (al-Sara'ir, vol. 1, p. 605)
The narrator relates: I said to Imam al-Sadiq (AS): My affairs have fallen into disarray! He said: Then supplicate in your obligatory prayer! I said: Is it really possible to speak in one's own words during the obligatory prayer and ask for the needs of religion and of this world?! He said: Yes! The Messenger of God (PBUH) used to supplicate in the qunut of his prayer, naming particular people by their descriptions and asking for what was needed concerning them. Ali (AS) did likewise.
We note: the text of the hadith reads "da'a ala qawmin" (he prayed against a people), which may well be a scribal corruption of "da'a li-qawmin" (he prayed for a people). Though if the former is established, the latter is permitted with all the more reason.
Abu Abd Allah (AS) said: News of the death of one of his companions reached the Commander of the Faithful (AS); then another report came that he had not died. So he wrote to him: In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Now then: a report had come to us at which your brothers were dismayed; then came the denial of the first report, and that gladdened us. Yet such joy is soon to be cut short, for before long the first report will be confirmed. Will you then be like a man who has already tasted death, beheld what lies beyond it, asked to be sent back, and been granted his request? (al-Sara'ir, vol. 1, p. 634)
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said: News of the death of one of his companions reached the Commander of the Faithful (AS). A little later came word that no — he was alive. The Commander of the Faithful (AS) wrote him a letter: In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Now then: news of your passing reached us and grieved your brothers; a little later, when the report was denied, we all rejoiced. But this joy will not endure: sooner or later you will die at last, and one day the first report will be confirmed. So live in such a way that when you taste death and see with your own eyes what follows it, you will not be left longing to return to the world to make up for what was lost — for if you are such, you will suffer bitter regret.