الشورى بعد عمر، وأهل الجمل

[2] Explaining the meaning, Ibn Abi’l-Ḥadīd writes that Amīr al-mu’minīn’s intention was to say: They (the Quraysh and those who are assisting them) were not only content to keep me away from my right over the caliphate which they have usurped (from me), but rather claimed that it was their right whether to give it to me or prevent me from the same; and that I have no right to argue with them. Furthermore, the intention (of Amīr al-mu’minīn) is that: If they had not said that it is right to keep away from the caliphate, it would have been easy to endure it because this would have, at least, showed their admitting my right although they were not prepared to concede it. (Sharḥ Nahj al-balāghah, vol. 9, p. 306)