by Allah, despite his drawing us close and his nearness to us—we would not speak to him(1), so great was our awe of him. He held the devout in high esteem and drew the poor close to him. No powerful man could hope to prevail in wrongdoing, and no weak person despaired of his justice.

I call Allah to witness that I once saw him saying:

“O world(2), beguile someone else. Is it to me that you have presented yourself? Or is it for me that you have adorned yourself(3)? Far from it! I have divorced you(4) three times, and there is no taking you back(5). Your span is short(6), your peril is great(7), and life in you is paltry. Alas! How meager the provisions, how far the journey, and how lonely the road!”’

Muāwiyah wept and said, ‘May Allah have mercy on Abū al-Hasan. He was(8), by Allah, indeed just as you have described. What, then, is your grief(9) for him like, O Dirār?’

He replied, ‘It is the grief of a mother whose child was slaughtered in her lap: her tears never cease, and her sorrow never subsides.’”

The response is as follows:

As for Alī’s renunciation of wealth—may Allah be pleased with him—there is no doubt about it. The issue, however, is whether he was more ascetic than Abū Bakr (and Umar)(10). There is nothing in what has been mentioned to indicate