Muawiyah said to al-Hasan ibn Ali (as.): ,,I am better than you, o Hasan.” He (as.) said: ,,And how is that, o son of Hind?” Muawiyah said: ,,Because the people agreed on me and not on you.” Imam al-Hasan (as.) said: ,,Far from it, far from it, due to the evil, which you have brought up, o son of the liver eater. Two kinds of people agreed upon you: The obedient and the unwilling (forced). The obedient to you is the disobedient to God (swt.) and the unwilling is excused by the Book of God. God forbid, that I say: ,,I am better than you.” For there is no good in you. God (swt.) has absolved me from the vices, just as He has absolved you from the virtues.” [Bihar-ul-Anwar, volume 44, page 104, Hadith 12]

مناقب ابن شهرآشوب: وقال معاوية للحسن بن علي عليهما السلام: أنا أخير منك يا حسن، قال: وكيف ذاك يا ابن هند؟ قال: لأن الناس قد أجمعوا علي ولم يجمعوا عليك قال هيهات هيهات لشر ما علوت، يا بن آكلة الأكباد، المجتمعون عليك رجلان: بين مطيع ومكره، فالطائع لك عاص لله، والمكره معذور بكتاب الله، وحاش لله أن أقول: أنا خير منك فلا خير فيك، ولكن الله برأني من الرذائل كما برأك من الفضائل.