The resorting of people to Imam Ali

A woman was afraid of the torture of the hell.
A pregnant woman came to the presence of Amir Al-Momenin (peace be upon him) and said '' I have committed incest. Purify me. I hope God purifies you because the torture of the life is easier than the punishment of the doomsday that has no ending''.
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) stated'' from what do I purify you?''
He answered '' you should purify me from incest that I have committed''.
Amir Al-Momenin (peace be upon him) asked '' are you a husband?''
The woman answered '' yes, I am''.
Amir Al-Momenin (peace be upon him) asked '' when you committed this sin, was your husband on trip or at home?''
The woman answered '' he was at home''.
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said '' now come back and when you bore a child, come back so that I purify you. When the woman left Imam Ali (peace be upon him), she said in the way that Imam Ali could not hear her remarks '' O' God! This is an attestation''.
After a while, the woman came to the presence of Amir Al-Momenin (peace be upon him) and said '' I have born my child; therefore, purify me''.
In such a time, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) pretended that he knew nothing of her past. Hence, he said '' from what I should purify you?''
The woman said '' I have committed incest; therefore, purify me''.
Amir Al-Momenin (peace be upon him) asked '' did you have a husband when you committed incest?''
The woman answered '' yes, I had a husband''.
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) asked '' was your husband at home or on trip?''
The woman answered '' he was at home''.
Breast feed your child for two years according to the order of God. The woman came back and when the woman left Imam Ali (peace be upon him), she said in the way that Imam Ali could not hear her remarks '' O' God! This is an attestation''.
After two years passed, the woman came back and said '' O' Amir Al-Momenin! I breast feasted my child for two years. Now purify me''.
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) pretended that he knew nothing of her past; therefore, he asked the same questions. Then he said to him '' now go and take care of your child until he can feed himself, does not fall down from the roof and does not fall into the well. The woman left Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) as he was crying. When the woman left Imam Ali (peace be upon him), she said in the way that Imam Ali could not heare her remarks '' O' God! This is an attestation''.
Umarv Bn Harith Makhzumi saw the woman on the way and said to her'' why are you crying? I have seen that you go to the presence of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and wants him to purify you''.
The woman said'' yes, I came to the presence of Amir Al-Momenin (peace be upon him) and wanted him to purify me. Then Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said '' go and take care of your child until he or she can drink and eat… I am afraid that I die during this time and he does not purify me''.
Umarv said to him '' come back to Amir Al-Momenin(peace be upon him) and I take care of your child''.
The woman came back to the presence of Amir Al-Momenin(peace be upon him) and expressed the promise of Umarv in relation to taking care f her child. Amir Al-Momenin(peace be upon him) like a person that knew nothing of her past said '' why should Umarv take the responsibility of taking care of your child?''
The woman said '' O' Amir Al-Momenin! I have committed incest; purify me''.
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) asked '' when you committed this sin, did you live with your husband?''
The woman answered'' yes, I lived with my husband''.
Imam Ali asked '' was your husband in your city or on trip?''
Then Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) looked up the sky and expressed to God such remarks
''O' God! She is deserved to death since she has confessed her sin four times. You have said to the prophet that if someone violates the rules of punishment, he has animosity with me. O' God! I never violate the rules of punishment about human and I do not have animosity with you and never spoil your rule, but I obey you and follow the tradition of your prophet.
In such a time, Umarv Bin Harith looked at the face of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and saw that his face had been red due to a lot of anger as if pomegranate has been splashed on his face. Then he expressed to Imam Ali (peace be upon him) '' O' Amir Al-Momenin! I imagined you would be happy from my action, but now that I see that you are not satisfied of my action, I will not take care of her child.
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) stated
'' Do you take the responsibility of taking care of her child although she has confessed her sin four times? You are not a great man''.
Then Imam Ali (peace be upon him) went over pulpit and ordered Ghanbar
'' Call out to the people to get ready for group prayer''. Ghanbar obeyed the order of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and people rushed toward the mosque. Therefore, the mosque became full of persons.
In such a time, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) thanked and exalted God. Then he stated '' O' people! Your Imam wants you to move out of Kufa in order to sentence this woman to death. When you leave your house, you should bring your stones with you and cover in the way that you cannot recognize each other until you come back home. Then he came down the pulpit and around the dawn Imam Ali (peace be upon him) along with the woman left there and the persons left their houses as they did not recognize each other since they had covered their faces with mask and they had stones with them. When Imam Ali, the woman and the persons arrived out of Kufa, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said to the persons '' God has sworn allegiance with the prophet and the prophet has sworn the same allegiance with me. Whoever is deserved to be sentenced to death should not sentence someone else to death. Now everyone that is deserved to be sentenced to death should not sentence someone else to death. Then all of people came back and only Imam Ali (peace be upon him) along with Imam Hasan (peace be upon him) and Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) lapidated the woman.
A lot people circled Imam Ali (peace be upon him). A man entered the mosque and asked in a good time
'' O' Ali! I have a question. Is knowledge better or wealth?''
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) answered '' knowledge is better because science is the inheritance of the prophets, but wealth is the inheritance of Gharun, Freon, Haman and Shedad''.
After the man received his answer, he became quiet. In such a time, another man came to the mosque and as he had stood up, immediately he asked
O' Aba Al-Hasan! I have a question. Can I ask it from you?''Imam said to the man'' ask it''. The man that had stood up the end of the population '' is science is better or wealth?''
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) answered '' science is better because it saves you, but you have to keep wealth''.
The second person that had been convinced by the answer sat.
Afterwards, the third persons entered the mosque and repeated the same question. Imam Answered '' science is better because a knowledgeable person has a lot of friends, but a rich person has a lot of enemies''.
The answer of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) had just finished, the fourth person entered the mosque. As he had sat beside his friends, he laid his stick in front of himself and asked
''O' Ali! Science is better or wealth?
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) answered
'' Science is better because if you grant your wealth to others, it decreases, but if persons benefit from your knowledge, it does not decrease, but increases''.
It was the turn of the fifth person that asked this question. He had already come to the mosque and stood up beside the pillar of the mosque. When the remarks of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) finished, he asked the same question. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) answered '' science is better because people known wealthy and rich persons as stingy persons, but they remember scientists as great persons''.
When the sixth person entered, all of persons turned their heads and looked at him in a surprising way. One person among them said '' he definitely wants to know whether science is better than wealth. The persons that heard his voice laughed. The man sat beside his friends at the end of the mosque and started talking loudly
O' Ali! Which one is better, science or wealth?
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) looked at them and said '' science is better because a thief may steal wealth, but there is no worry that a thief steals science. Then the man became quiet''.
There was a lot of fuss among the persons. They wondered why all asked such a question. The persons looked at Hazrat Ali and the newcomers surprisingly.
Before Hazrat Ali finished his remarks, the seventh person had already entered the mosque and had sat among other persons and then he asked
'' O' Aba Al-Hasan! Which one is better, science or wealth?
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) stated '' science is better because wealth becomes old, but science never spoils even after a long time''.
In such a time, the eighth person entered and asked his friends' question. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) answered '' science is better because wealth is with his owner in the time of his or her death, but science is with human in this world and in the time of death''.
Everyone was quiet in the meeting and any one said nothing. Everybody was surprised from the answers of Imam Ali (peace be upon him). In such a time, the person ninth entered the mosque and asked in a surprising way
'' Which one is better, science or wealth?''
As Imam Ali was smiling, he said '' science is better because wealth makes persons cruel, but science laminates the hearts of human''.
The persons were staring at the door surprisingly as if they were waiting the person ninth. In such a time, a man entered the mosque as he the hand of a child was in his hand. He sat at the end of the population and scattered a fist of dates on the lap of the child and started staring at the front.
The persons that never thought that no one asked questions any more turned their heads. In such a time, a man asked
'' O' Aba Al-Hasan! Which one is better, science or wealth?''
The persons looked back in a surprising way. The persons became conscious hearing the voice of Imam Ali
'' Science is better because rich persons are proud as much as they claim that they are God, but knowledgeable persons are modest and humble. The noise of fuss, happiness and the exaltation of the persons in the meeting filled all over there.
The persons that had asked questions stood up among the population. When they left the mosque, they heard that Imam Ali (peace be upon him) was
'' If persons all over the world ask this question, I will answer it differently''.