83. Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn narrated to us; Ḥammād ibn al-Walīd al-Khaṭl transmitted it; he said: I heard ʿUmar ibn Dharr relate that it had reached him from Maymūn ibn Mih­rān that he said:
    “I entered upon ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz while the poet Sābiq al-Barbarī was reciting verses to him, and he reached these lines:

How many a hale man lay down at night secure from death,
yet fate came on him suddenly once he had fallen asleep.

When death arrived without warning he could not escape,
nor could all his strength protect him or fend it off.

At dawn veiled women wept for him in mourning,
but he could no longer hear the caller, however loud the cry.

He was borne close to a grave that became his resting-place,
parted from all he had gathered only yesterday.

Death spares neither the wealthy for all their riches,
nor leaves the penniless who still stand in need.
⦗89⦘
Umar kept trembling and weeping until he lost consciousness. The narrator said: so we stood up and left him.