All praise is due to Allah, whom neither one heaven veils from another, nor does one earth conceal from another. About this sermon, he said: Someone said to me: 'O Ibn Abi Talib, you are greedy for the caliphate.' I said: 'By Allah, you are greedier for it and further from its true worth, while I am more worthy and nearer by relationship to the Prophet. I have merely demanded my right, but you stand between me and my right, turning me away when I seek to claim it. When, amid a great assembly, I struck the great ones' ears with this argument, they were left stunned, unable to reply.' O Allah, I seek Your help against Quraysh and their supporters, for they have severed ties of kinship, belittled my rank, and banded together against the caliphate which is my due. Then they say: 'True, this is your right, but likewise, it is right for you to forgo it.' This sermon also addresses the people of Jamal: They departed from Mecca toward Basra, dragging the sanctity and honor of the Messenger of Allah around like a slave girl for sale from city to city. These two kept their own wives secreted in their homes but openly brought the wife of Allah’s Messenger before themselves and others. With an army, every one of whose men had recognized my authority and given allegiance to me of his own will, they advanced against my governor in Basra, the treasurer of the Muslim public funds, and other residents there, killing some through torture in prison, others by craft and deceit. By God! Even if they had wrongfully murdered only one innocent Muslim, it would have been lawful for me to destroy their entire army, for they witnessed it without denouncing or resisting it by word or action. How much greater is their guilt, for they killed as many Muslims as their own entire force they had brought against us.