Shu’bi narrates:
Like the other youths, I entered the vast open ground of Kufah, where I witnessed Amirul Mu’mineen (a.s.) standing beside two containers which were filled with gold and silver coins. He had a small whip in his hand. A huge crowd had gathered around him and he kept them back by means of his whip, to prevent them from hampering the distribution of the money.
The Imam (a.s.) began distributing the money amongst the people until nothing remained for himself and he returned home empty-handed.
I returned home and said to my father, “I witnessed a very strange act today but I fail to comprehend if this person’s action was good or bad because he never retained anything for himself!”
My father inquired, “Who was the person?”
“Amirul Mu’mineen (a.s.),” I replied and then went on to narrate what had transpired earlier. Upon hearing Ali’s (a.s.) fairness in distributing the money, my father began to weep and said to me, “My son, you have witnessed the most excellent person from amongst the people.( Al-Ghaaraat, vol. 1, pg. 55; Dastaanhai Az Zindagi Ali, pg. 7. )