If anyone supposes that Abū Bakr sought exaltation on earth and corruption, then such a supposition applies even more fittingly and readily to Alī.

But to say, “Abū Bakr sought exaltation on earth and corruption, whereas Alī sought neither exaltation on earth nor corruption,” despite how plainly the conduct of both men is known, is a wilful denial of the obvious. Nothing in the widely attested accounts of their conduct indicates this; rather, those accounts show that Abū Bakr’s conduct was superior.

For this reason, those who made this claim on Alī’s behalf appealed to things that were unknown, saying, “There was an explicit designation of him as caliph that was concealed, and there was(1) a hidden enmity that never came to light, because of which he was deprived of his right.”

Our present purpose is to set forth what is known, certain, and widely attested among the public and elite alike. As for what is reported(2)—reports rejected by most people—and evil suspicions unsupported by any evidence, whose falsity we in fact know, anyone who adduces such things is among those who follow conjecture and whatever souls desire. Such a person is of the same kind as the disbelievers and the adherents of falsehood, and such material can be met with hadiths transmitted through other channels.

We have not adduced the reports transmitted by the two sides; what, then, of conjecture, which avails nothing against the truth?!

What is known with certainty and widely attested among the public and elite alike is that Abū Bakr was further removed from any desire for exaltation and corruption than Umar, Uthmān, and Alī—to say nothing of Alī alone(3)—and that he was more likely(4) to seek the Countenance of Allah Most High and the welfare(5) of the Muslims than those three