٢٧١. رُوِيَ أَنَّهُ (عليه السلام) رُفِعَ إِلَيْهِ رَجُلَانِ سَرَقَا مِنْ مَالِ اللَّهِ، أَحَدُهُمَا عَبْدٌ مِنْ مَالِ اللَّهِ، وَالْآخَرُ مِنْ عُرُوضِ النَّاسِ.

271. It is related that two persons were brought to Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him. They had committed theft of public property. One of them was a slave purchased from public money and the other had been purchased by someone among the people.

فَقَالَ (عليه السلام) : أَمَّا هذَا فَهُوَ مِنْ مَالِ اللهِ وَلَا حَدَّ عَلَيْهِ، مَالُ اللهِ أَكَلَ بَعْضُهُ بَعْضاً، وَأَمَّا الْآخَرُ فَعَلَيْهِ الْحَدُّ، (الشَّدِيدُ) فَقَطَعَ يَدَهُ.

Then Amīr al-mu’minīn said: As for this one who is the property of public money, there is no punishment for him for it means one property of Allāh having taken another property of Allāh. As for the other, he should get the punishment. Consequently, his hand was cut.

271. On raconte qu’on lui présenta deux hommes dont le premier est un esclave qui avait volé de l’argent de Dieu et le second qui était un voleur des maisons.

Il dit: le premier a pris de l’argent de Dieu et n’encoure aucun châtiment, tandis que le second mérite le châtiment sévère: sa main fut coupée.

Nahj al-Balāgha

Chapter #271