Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 29865 — Striking with a whip

Abdullah bin Ma'qil said: I was sitting with Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) when a man came to him and spoke to him privately. Sayyiduna Ali said: "O Qanbar!" The people called out: "O Qanbar!" He said: "Take this man out and flog him." Then the man who had been flogged came and said: "He gave me three lashes too many." Sayyiduna Ali said to him: "What do you say?" He said: "He has spoken the truth, O Commander of the Faithful." He said: "Take the whip and flog him three lashes." Then he said: "O Qanbar! When you flog, do not go beyond the prescribed limits."