Al-Imam Ali (p.b.u.h), said:
Hadith n. 417
417. Someone said before Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him: “Astaghfiru’llah” (I ask Allah’s forgiveness), then Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, said: Your mother may lose you! Do you know what “istighfar” (asking Allah’s forgiveness) is? “Istighfar” is meant for people of a high position. It is a word that stands on six supports. The first is to repent over the past; the second is to make a firm determination never to revert to it; the third is to discharge all the rights of people so that you may meet Allah quite clean with nothing to account for; the fourth is to fulfil every obligation which you ignored (in the past) so that you may now do justice with it; the fifth is to aim at the flesh grown as a result of unlawful earning, so that you may melt it by grief (of repentance) till the skin touches the bone and a new flesh grows between them; and the sixth is to make the body taste the pain of obedience as you (previously) made it taste the sweetness of disobedience. On such an occasion you may say “astaghfiru’llah“.
Hadith n. 418
418. Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, said: Clemency is (like) a kinsfolk.
Hadith n. 419
419. Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, said: How wretched the son of Adam is! His death is hidden, his ailments are concealed, his actions are preserved, the bite of a mosquito pains him, choking causes his death and sweat gives him a bad smell
Hadith n. 420
420. It is related that Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, was sitting with his companions when a beautiful woman passed by them and they began to look at her whereupn Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, said: The eyes of these men are covetous and this glancing is the cause of their becoming covetous. Whenever anyone of you sees a woman who attracts him, he should meet his wife because she is a woman like his wife.
Then one of the Kharijites said: “May Allah kill this heretic! How logical he is!” People then leapt towards him to kill him, but Amir al-mu’minin, peace be upon him, said: “Wait a bit. There should either be abuse [for an abuse] or else pardoning from the offence.”
Source: https://www.al-islam.org/nahjul-balagha-part-2-letters-and-sayings
