It was in the caliphate of Imam Ali (a), when an Iranian man from Hamedan and Halvan (a city near Baghdad) brought some honey and figs to Amir al-Mu’minin (as) in Kufa.
Imam (a) immediately ordered to bring the orphan children to him. They gathered the orphans, and he allowed them to eat the honey directly from its containers. Then he poured the honey into pots and distributed it among people. They complained to him why he allowed the orphans to eat directly from the containers?
And Imam (a) replied:
“ان الامام ابوالیتامى و انما العقتهم هذا برعایة الاباء”
Indeed, Imam is the father of the orphans and he should allow his children to do so, so that they never feel as orphans deprived of a father.
This is the attitude of the Friend of God and the Commander of the Muslims toward the orphans in his community. He was a kind father who loved the orphans so much that the others envied his love.
As in another hadith, Abu al-Tufail says: “Once I saw Imam Ali (a) ordered to bring the orphan children to him. Then he treated them so kindly and fed them with honey that some of his companions wished they were orphans too” [to receive the same care and attention from the Imam (a)].
Source:
Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 41, p. 29.
Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 41, p. 123.
