When Abdullah bin Abbas was the Governor of Basra, Imam Ali (a) wrote the
following letter to him. The cause of this letter was the behaviour of Ibn Abbas
towards the clan of Bani Tamim. Ibn Abbas hated them because some of them
had sided with Talha and Zubayr in the Battle of Jamal and therefore, he had on
occasions treated them scornfully. They reported this matter to Imam Ali (a)
requesting that the whole clan should not be treated badly because of the folly
of a few. This letter shows what a kind rule it was that Imam Ali (a) wanted to
introduce.