a shirt for three dirhams while he was caliph, then cut the sleeves off at the wrists and said, “Praise be to Allah, for this, too, is part of His adornment.”
Imam Aḥmad also relates in al-Zuhd: through ʿAbbād ibn al-ʿAwwām, from Hilāl ibn Khabbāb (1), from a mawla of Abū Ghusayn (2), who said, “I saw ʿAlī go out and come to a seller of coarse garments. He asked, ‘Do you have a sunbulānī shirt?’ The man produced one, and ʿAlī put it on; it reached halfway down his shins. He looked to his right and left and said, ‘It seems to be just the right length. How much is it?’ The man replied, ‘Four dirhams, O Commander of the Believers.’ ʿAlī untied the four dirhams from the sash of his waist-wrapper, handed them over, and went on his way.
Muhammad ibn Saʿd (3) said: al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn related to us; al-Ḥasan ibn Jurmuz, from his father, reported: “I saw ʿAlī coming out of the palace wearing two Egyptian garments (4): a waist-wrapper that reached mid-shin and a similarly short cloak. He carried a small whip as he walked through the markets, urging the people to fear Allah and sell honestly, saying, ‘Give full measure and weight,’ and, ‘Do not puff up the meat.’
ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak records in al-Zuhd (5): A man narrated to us—Ṣāliḥ ibn Maytham—Zayd (6) ibn Wahb al-Juhanī reported: “One day ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib came out to us wearing two cloaks: he had wrapped one around his waist and draped the other over his shoulders. One side of his izār hung low while the other was hitched up and secured with a rag. A Bedouin passed by and said, ‘Man, wear finer clothes, for you are going to die or be killed.’ ʿAlī replied, ‘O Bedouin, I wear these two garments only to keep me distant from vanity, to benefit me more in my prayer, and to set a precedent for every believer.’
ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd (7) narrated: Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd told us; al-Mukhtār ibn Nāfiʿ told us, from Abū Maṭar, who said: “I came out of the mosque and a man behind me was calling, ‘Raise your izār; it is cleaner for your garment and more God-fearing for you. Trim your hair if you are a Muslim.’ I walked behind him; ahead of me he was wearing a waist-wrapper and a cloak and carried a whip, looking like a Bedouin. I asked, ‘Who is this?’ Someone said, ‘You must be a stranger here.’ I replied, ‘Yes, I am from Basra.’ He said, ‘This is ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, the Commander of the Believers.’ He continued until he reached the house of Banū Abī Muʿīṭ, driving some camels, and said, ‘Sell, but do not swear oaths, for an oath may move the merchandise yet it destroys the blessing.’ He then came to the date-sellers, where a maidservant was weeping (8). He asked, ‘Why are you crying?’ She answered, ‘This man sold me dates for a dirham; my masters returned them and he refuses to take them back.’ He said to the man