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[...] It is better to live for just a single day as a ruler than to live for forty years as an abject slave.

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Source, in full

Babak Khorramdin's letter to his son, rejecting the caliph’s amnesty message, quoted by Al-Tabari, edited by C. E. Bosworth, History of al-Tabari Vol. 33, The: Storm and Stress along the Northern Frontiers of the 'Abbasid Caliphate: The Caliphate of al-Mu'tasim A.D. 833-842/A.H. 218-227

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Slavery

More quotes by Al-Tabari

I have fabricated things against God and have imputed to Him words which He has not spoken.

Killing Unbelievers is a small matter to us.

The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared, "Kill any Jew who falls under your power."

Muhammad carried arms, helmets, and spears. He led a hundred horses, appointing Bahir to be in charge of the weapons and Maslamah to be in charge of the horses. When the Quraysh received word of this, it frightened them.

Nobody seeks my help with a petition or offers an excuse that is more pressing than he, reminding me of a favor I did him so that it would be followed by its sister (i.e, one like it) and so good would be done to its asker because withholding of later things removes gratitude for earlier ones.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Al-Tabari (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.