لما قال بعض أصحابه بعد ظفره في وقعة الجمل: ليت أخي كان حاضراً فيرى ما آتاك الله من النصر والظفر

[1] If a person falls short in his actions despite means and equipment, this would be indicative of the weakness of his will. But if there is an impediment in the way of action or his life comes to an end as a result of which his action remains incomplete, then in that case Allāh would not deprive him of the reward on the basis that actions are judged by intention. Since his intention in any case was to perform the action, therefore he should deserve reward to some extent. In the case of action, there may be absence of reward because action can involve show or pretence but intention is hidden in the depth of heart. It can have not a jot of show or affectation. The intention would remain at the same level of frankness, truth, perfection and correctness where it is, even though there may be no action due to some impediment. Even if there is no occasion for forming intention but there is passion and zeal in the heart, a man would deserve reward on the basis of his heart's feelings. This is to what Amīr al-mu’minīn has alluded in this sermon, namely that “If your brother loved me he would share the reward with those who secured martyrdom for our support.”