When he noticed the vastness of his companion''s house

Amīr al-mu’minīn went to enquire about the health of his companion al-‘Alā’ ibn Ziyād al-Ḥārithī and when he noticed the vastness of his house he said:

What will you do with this vast house in this world, although you need this house more in the next world. If you want to take it to the next world you could entertain in it guests and be regardful of kinship and discharge all (your) obligations according to their accrual. In this way you will be able to take it to the next world.

Then al-‘Alā’ said to him: O’ Amīr al-mu’minīn, I want to complain to you about my brother ‘Āṣim ibn Ziyād.

Amīr al-mu’minīn enquired: What is the matter with him?

al-‘Alā’ said: He has put on a woollen coat and cut himself away from the world.

Amīr al-mu’minīn said: Present him to me.

When he came Amīr al-mu’minīn said: O enemy of yourself. Certainly, the evil (Satan) has misguided you. Do you feel no pity for your wife and your children? Do you believe that if you use those things which Allāh has made lawful for you, He will dislike you? You are too unimportant for Allāh to do so.

He said: O Amīr al-mu’minīn, you also put on coarse dress and eat rough food.

Then he replied: Woe be to you, I am not like you. Certainly, Allāh, the Sublime, has made it obligatory on true leaders that they should maintain themselves at the level of low people so that the poor do not cry over their poverty. [1]