To the governor of Basra upon learning that he had accepted an invitation to a lavish banquet

To ‘Uthmān ibn Ḥunayf al-Anṣārī who was Amīr al-mu’minīn’s Governor of Baṣrah, when he came to know that the people of that place had invited ‘Uthmān to a banquet and he had attended.

O’ Ibn Ḥunayf, I have come to know that a young man of Baṣrah invited you to a feast and you leapt towards it. Foods of different colours were being chosen for you and big bowls were being given to you. I never thought…

Remember that every follower has a leader whom he follows and from the effulgence of whose knowledge he takes light. Realize that your Imam has contented himself with two shabby pieces of cloth out of the (comforts of…

Of course, all that we had in our possession under this sky was Fadak [1], but a group of people felt greedy for it and the other party withheld themselves from it. Allāh is, after all, the best arbiter. What shall I do:…

I try to keep myself engaged in piety so that one the day of great fear it will be peaceful and steady in slippery places. If I wished I could have taken the way leading towards (worldly pleasures like) pure honey, fine…

It is enough for you to have a disease that you lie with your belly full while around you people may be badly yearning for dried leather.

Shall I be content with being called ‘Amīr al-mu’minīn’ (The Commander of the Believers), although I do not share with the people the hardships of the world? Or shall I be an example for them in the distresses of life? I…

I see as if one of you would say that if this is what the son of Abī Ṭālib eats then weakness must have made him unfit to fight his foes and encounter the brave. Remember that the tree of the forest is the best for…

My relation with the Messenger of Allāh is that of one branch with another, or of the wrist with the forearm. By Allāh, if the Arabs join together to fight me I will not run away from them and if I get the opportunity I…

A part of the same which is the end of the letter : Get away from me, O’ world. Your rein is on your own shoulders as I have released myself from your ditches, removed myself of your snares and avoided walking into your…

By Allāh, if you had been a visible personality and a body capable of feeling, I would have awarded you the penalties fixed by Allāh because of the people whom you received through desires and the communities whom you…

Get away from me, for, by Allāh, I do not bow before you so that you may humiliate me, nor do I let loose the reins for you so that you may drive me away. I swear by Allāh an oath wherein I, except the will of Allāh,…

Should ‘Alī eat whatever he has and fall asleep like the cattle who fill their stomachs from the pasture land and lie down, or as the goats (who) graze, eat the green grass and go into their pen! His eyes may die if he,…

Blessed is he who discharges his obligations towards Allāh and endures his hardships, allows himself no sleep in the night but when sleep overpowers him lies down on the ground using his hand as a pillow, along with…

Therefore, O’ Ibn Ḥunayf, fear Allāh and be content with your own loaves so that you may escape Hell.