`Abdullah ibn `Abbas says that when Amir al-mu’minin set out for war with the people of Basrah he came to his audience at Dhi Qar and saw that he was stitching his shoe. Then Amir al-mu’minin said to me, “What is the price of this shoe?” I said: “It has no value now.” He then said, “By Allah, it should have been dearer to me than ruling over you but for the fact that I may establish right and ward off wrong.”
