One of Amir al-mu'minin's companions (from Banu Asad) asked him: "How was it that your tribe (Quraysh) deprived you of this position (Caliphate) although you deserved it most." Then in reply he said:
O brother of Banu Asad! Your girth is loose and you have put it on the wrong way. Nevertheless you enjoy in-law kinship and also the right to ask, and since you have asked, listen. As regards the dominance over us in this station (of caliphate) although we were the loftiest in lineage and the strongest in relationship with the Messenger of Allah, it was an act of appropriation by some who became greedy for it, while others relinquished it through their generosity. The Arbiter is Allah and to Him is the return on the Day of Judgement.
"... So let not thy self go (in vain) in grief for them; verily Allah knoweth all that they do." (Qur'an, 35:8)
(1) Al-Saduq, al-'Amali, 368;
(3) al-Mufid, al-'Irshad, 172;
(4) al-Tabari, al-Mustarshid, 64.