when he takes up jurisprudence, he revives Malik himself with the force of his argument (1),
and should he break into verse, he would outshine the “Wandering King” of old (2).

He composed polished poetry; among it are the following lines:

“I kissed a sleeper; she woke in alarm
and cried, ‘Come here—seize the thief and let the prescribed penalty befall him!’ (3)
So I replied, ‘My lady, I am but an usurper,
and jurists rule that an usurper need only make restitution.
Reclaim what is yours and spare a sinner further blame (4),
yet if you are not content, then a thousand—count them—shall be the price.
She answered, ‘Retaliation! Reason itself attests
that for the culprit’s heart it is sweeter than honey.
Thus my right hand was severed—though it had been the girdle at her waist (5),
and my left hand too—though it was the pendant of her necklace.
She said, ‘Was I not told you were an ascetic?’
I said, ‘Indeed—and I have ever been ascetic toward asceticism itself.’ (6)”

Abu Ishaq said in al-Tabaqat: “I met ʿAbd al-Wahhab, heard him engage in debate, and he had seen the judge al-Abhari, though he did not receive narration from him.”

He authored many works on jurisprudence.

He traveled to Egypt, where the people of the Maghreb secured for him a measure of worldly provision (7). Others say he went to Egypt because poverty had overtaken him. He died there in the month of Safar.