Anas ibn ʿIyāḍ—through Hishām ibn ʿUrwah—reported:

When ʿUrwah built his residence at al-ʿAqīq (1), people said to him, “You have deserted the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah!”

He replied, “I have found their mosques filled with idle diversion, their markets ringing with frivolous talk, and lewdness standing high in their streets; so distancing myself over there, away from what they are immersed in, is well-being.” (2)

Muṣʿab al-Zubayrī—through his grandfather, through Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, from his father—said:

When Muʿāwiyah came to Medina he sent for me. He examined me, questioned me, and asked me to recite poetry. Then he said, “Do you transmit the verses of your grandmother Ṣafiyyah bint ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib?

I wrestled with the havoc of the ages on their behalf,
while Asmā’, a lone woman, knew nothing of the deed;
Had Zabr been an idolater I would have excused him,
but—though people may claim it—he is a Muslim indeed.
”

I answered, “Yes, and I also transmit her other poem:

Go, messenger, and tell my cousins plainly:
why such plotting against us, why dispute for authority?
Ask the gathered clan of Banū ʿAlī,
when boasting swells and poems are declaimed with fervency,
that never do we consent to any outrage among us,
and to those who expect our bounty, we are generosity.
Whenever our blows strike your pride, you will resent it,
and the homes of your peers will be forced to flee.
Even the people of Mecca—though it is their dwelling—depart;
they are the best of men whenever the best are named,
Lavish in gifts whenever we give,
dauntless when the dust of battle is prized and acclaimed,
We forgive when we hold the power,
yet victory attends us whenever the foe is faced,
And we, with the swift-running chargers on the day of assembly,
are there, reins in hand, while the dust clouds are raised.
”

He added, “She only composed those lines over the killing of Abū Uzayhir, using them to reproach Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb.”