Imam Ali’s Famous Epistle To Malik Ashtar: Chief Judge

Select for your chief judge one from the people who is by far the best among them – one who is not obsessed with domestic worries, one who cannot be intimidated, one who does not err too often, one who does not turn back from a right path once he finds it, one who is not self-centered or veracious, on who will not decide before knowing full facts, one who will weigh with care every attendant doubt and pronounce a clear verdict after taking everything into full consideration, one who will not grow restive over the arguments of advocates and who will examine with patience every new disclosure of fact and who will be strictly impartial in his decision, one whom flattery cannot mislead or one who does not exult over his position. But it is not easy to find such men.
Once you have selected the right man for the office, pay him handsomely enough to let him live in comfort and in keeping with his position, enough to keep him above temptations. Give him a position in your court so high that none can even dream of coveting it and so high that neither backbiting nor intrigue can touch him. ¹

References:

1. The Epistle Imam Ali’s Famous Epistle To Malik Ashtar, Mairaj Khalid[↩]

[Quran Chapter 30:5-6] 5. In Allah's support. He supports whomever He wills. He is the Almighty, the Merciful. 6. The promise of Allah—Allah never breaks His promise, but most people do not know.