Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 32580 — Reports on talk about rulers

Al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Ziyad said: The Commander of the Believers has not outdone me in any area of statecraft except one. I appointed a man as governor of a region, and he reduced its revenue. He feared my reprimand and fled to the Commander of the Believers. I wrote to him: This is a bad lesson for those under me. He wrote to me: It is not proper for me and you to treat people with one and the same policy. If we are both lenient, people will plunge into sins, and if we are both severe, we would be driving people along the paths of destruction. The right way is that you be suited to severity, harshness and sternness, and that I be suited to gentleness, kindness and mercy.