At one stage during the period of struggle and rule of the evil “Taghut” regime, about 20 theologians including myself, were exiled for a period of three years each. After the three years had passed and they released the gentlemen, three of them returned to Qum and changed into more luxurious houses. When the Imam came to know of this, he sent a message from Najaf asking that the gentlemen not indulge in excesses and by their actions, not make the people skeptical of their virtuous ancestry. He reminded them that when the renowned Shaykh Ansari departed for his heavenly abode he had a sum of just seven tomans (about a dollar) worth of assets and so they should not indulge in excesses and give a bad name to their virtuous ancestry.
Gentlemen, do not indulge in excesses: Muhammad Sadiq Karbaschi Tehrani