and Jaʿd (1), then Jahm (2) and Ibn Harb (3) — asses fit only to be hobbled.
Next comes Thawr (4): true to the “bull” his name denotes, or—if you turn the letters around—mere dung.
Add Hafṣ (5) al-Fard (6), a posturing ape forever contriving tricks;
Bishr (7), from whom I see no bishrā, no glad tidings, for from him every evil and confusion has sprung;
and the disciples of Ibn Kullāb (8) — dogs in very truth, the worst of their breed.
So too Abū al-Hudhayl (9), a former client of ʿAbd al-Qays who has brought shame upon the freedmen.
Do not overlook Ibn Ashras, surnamed Abū Maʿn Thumāma (10); he is an extremist.
Nor forget Ibn al-Ḥārith of Basra, that self-important striver who misleads with his contrived reasoning,
or the Kufan I mean, Ḍirār b. ʿAmr, who follows close upon the Basran’s heels.
Likewise Ibn al-Aṣamm (11), and, bringing up the rear, the riffraff of the shameless Bahāshima (12).
(1) al-Jaʿd ibn Dirham, tutor of Marwan ibn Muhammad, the last Umayyad caliph; he professed that the Quran was created and was put to death by Khalid al-Qasri.
(2) Jahm ibn Safwan, famous for doctrines that strongly influenced the later Muʿtazila; died 128 AH.
(3) Jaʿfar ibn Harb al-Hamdani, a leading Muʿtazili scholar of Baghdad; died 236 AH.
(4) Thawr ibn Yazid al-Kalaʿi, Abu Khalid al-Himsi, a Qadari theologian; died 153 AH.
(5) One of the innovators (as described in al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-iʿtidal, 1/564).
(6) Mizan has the reading al-Qird (with qaf); the form found here is probably correct. Cf. Ibn al-Nadim, al-Fihrist, p. 255.
(7) Two prominent Muʿtazilis bear this name: (a) Bishr ibn al-Muʿtamir al-Baghdadi (d. 210 AH), eponym of the Bishriyya; (b) Bishr ibn Ghayath al-Marisi (d. 218 AH), eponym of the Marisiyya. The latter is most likely intended here.
(8) Abd Allah ibn Saʿid ibn Kilab—Kilab with damma on the kaf and a doubled lam—the Basran theologian who led the Kullabiyya school; al-Dhahabi vocalises the name in al-Mushtabih, p. 555.
(9) Abu Hudhayl al-ʿAllaf, the senior Muʿtazili of Basra; died 226 AH.
(10) Thumama ibn Ashras, one of the foremost Muʿtazilis; died 213 AH.
(11) al-Basri, Dirar ibn ʿAmr al-Qadi, and Ibn al-Asam are also counted among the major Muʿtazili figures.
(12) The attribution is to Abu Hashim Abd al-Salam ibn Abi ʿAli al-Jubbai, who succeeded his father as head of the Basran Muʿtazila (d. 321 AH); his faction is called the Bahshamiyya and its followers the Bahashima.