ومن كلام له (عليه السلام) قاله للبرج بن مسهر الطائي، وقد قال له بحيث يسمعه: لا حكم إلاَّ لله، وكان من الخوارج
One of the Khārijites al-Burj ibn Mus’hir aṭ-Ṭā’i raised the slogan, “Command behoves only Allāh” in such a way that Amīr al-mu’minīn heard it. On hearing it he said:
اسْكُتْ قَبَحَكَ اللهُ يَا أَثْرَمُ، فَوَاللهِ لَقَدْ ظَهَرَ الْحقُّ فَكُنْتَ فِيهِ ضَئِيلاً شَخْصُكَ، خَفِيّاً صَوْتُكَ، حَتَّى إِذَا نَعَرَ الْبَاطِلُ نَجَمْتَ نُجُومَ قَرْ نِ الْمَاعِزِ.
Keep quiet, may Allāh make you ugly, O you with broken tooth. Certainly, by Allāh, when truth became manifest even then your personality was weak and your voice was lose. But when wrong began to shout loudly you again sprouted up like the horns of a kid.
