In the personality, life and martyrdom of this great Imam (P.B.U.H.), there are three elements combined, which are apparently incompatible with each other. These three elements are: authority, innocence, and triumph.
“Authority” of the Imam (P.B.U.H.) means his ability in having an iron will, having a firm determination, leading the most difficult battlefields, directing minds and thoughts toward the highest Islamic and human concepts, training great personages–such as Mālik Ashtar, ‘Ammār b. ‘Abbās, Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr and others–and establishing a [lasting] movement in human history. The symbol of the Imam’s (P.B.U.H.) authority was his supremacy in logic, thought and policy, governing and bravery. There is no trace of weakness in the character of Imam ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.). At the same time, he is one of the most oppressed figures of history and innocence can be seen in all parts of his life. During his adolescence, the Imam (P.B.U.H.) was oppressed. As a young man–after the demise of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.)–he was unjustly treated. During the age of the Caliphate and his adulthood, he was wronged. Even after his martyrdom, he was spoken ill of from the pulpits and made false accusations against him. His martyrdom also approved his innocence and being oppressed.
In all Islamic works, there are only two people who had been referred as “the vengeance of Allah” (thār Allāh). In Persian, we do not have an accurate and proper equivalent for the Arabic term of “thār” [vengeance; avenge the blood of]. That is when someone from a family is murdered unjustly; the victim’s family demands vengeance for his blood. This is the true meaning of “thār” and the family has the right to avenge. That some have translated this term as “the blood of Allah” is a very deficient interpretation of “thār” and does not show the real meaning of this word. “Thār” means the right to vengeance. If someone is the “thār” of a family, his family has the right to take his vengeance. In the history of Islam, there have been the names of two people whose blood and vengeance belong to Allah. One of them is Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.) and the other is his father–Imam ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.): “O’ the vengeance of Allah and the son of His vengeance”. The vengeance of his father–‘Alī (P.B.U.H.)–belongs to Allah as well.
The third element is the “triumph” of this honorable Imam (P.B.U.H.). His triumph means at the very first he won all the difficulties imposed on him during his lifetime. This means the fragile front of the enemy–which I will later explain about–could not bring ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) to his knees and all of them were defeated. After his martyrdom, his real status became more obvious day by day–that means it was far more obvious than his lifetime. Today if you look at the world–not just the world of Islam but the world at large, you will find many admirers who are not Muslims but have accepted ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (P.B.U.H.) as one of the prominent figures of history! This clarifies the real status of that brilliant gem and so Allah the Exalted rewards him for what he suffered from injustice. It must be for all those unfairness, repression, pressure and heinous charges which he faced with patience that Allah the Almighty rewarded him; and the reward of him is that you find no one in the human history as brilliant and approved by the majority as the Imam (P.B.U.H.). Maybe today among the many books being written about Imam ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.), the most passionate are written by Christian authors! I just remember three Christian authors had written complimentary yet passionate books about the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.). Such devotion was already in existence from the very first day; that is on the time right after his martyrdom when everyone spoke ill of that great Imam (P.B.U.H.) and propagandized him–especially those authorities related and affiliated to Umayyads and those whose hearts were full of the hatred toward the Commander of the Faithful’s (P.B.U.H.) sword and justice; this matter was clear since that time. Here is an example:
The son of ‘Abdullāh b. ‘Urwah b. Zubayr spoke ill of the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) in the presence of his father–‘Abdullāh b. ‘Urwah b. Zubayr. The family of Zubayr–except one of them named Muṣ‘ab b. Zubayr–were generally against the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.). Muṣ‘ab b. Zubayr was a brave and benevolent man and the same person who was involved in the incidents of Kūfa and Mukhtār, and later fought with ‘Abdul Malik. He was also the husband of Lady Sakīna–the first son-in-law of Imam Ḥusayn (P.B.U.H.). Apart from him, the rest of the family of Zubayr–from generations to generations–were opposed to the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.). When one reads history, he realizes all these. After hearing the slander, the father addressed his son with words which are not very interesting but have an important point and I have taken notes of. ‘Abdullāh said to his son, “I swear to Allah, my son, people never established something except that religion demolished it and religion did not establish something that the world would be able to demolish.” The people cannot demolish any structure which was created by religion or the foundation was laid on religion despite whatsoever they do; in other words, it is a waste of time to try to damage the good name of ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.)–whose deeds are laid on religion and faith. Then he added, “Have you not seen how the children of Marwān made public his flaws and disparaged him yet indeed they just took his fame to new heights.” That means just see how the children of Marwān have concentrated all their efforts on slandering and disparaging ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (P.B.U.H.) on any occasion and from any pulpit; however, their slandering and disparaging are in a way that they not only are taking this great personage to new heights but also they are making him more well-known to the public. In other words, their slanders create an opposite effect in the minds of the people. On the contrary, the Umayyads’ situation is like, “And [you] see what they assigned their deceased to praise and then I swear to Allah that would be verily as if they have disclosed a corpse”. The Umayyad praised their predecessors to the skies but the more they praised them, the more they increased the hatred toward them. This was said probably about thirty years after the martyrdom of Imam ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.). This means despite all the imposed oppressions, the Commander of the Faithful (P.B.U.H.) ended in victory either throughout his life or the history or even at the memory of humanity.
The story of the authority along with the innocence of ‘Alī (P.B.U.H.) which led up to this can be summarized as the following: