230 – al-Aḥwaṣ the Poet (*) Abū ʿĀṣim ʿAbd Allah b. Muḥammad b. ʿUbayd Allah, grandson of the Companion of the Prophet ﷺ ʿĀṣim b. Thābit … b. Thābit b. Abī al-Aqlah al-Anṣārī. He is the one whom ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz banished to the island of Dahlak (1) because of the abundance of his satirical verse.
Others said it was the caliph Sulaymān who exiled him, for having recited lines about ʿĀtika daughter of Yazīd:
“House of ʿĀtika, from which I keep away
for fear of foes—yet to you my heart is tied;
I may appear aloof, but—by an oath to you—
though I feign distance, toward you I still incline!” (2)
231 – Yazīd b. Abī Muslim Abū al-ʿAlāʾ b. Dīnār al-Thaqafī (**)
He was governor of the Maghrib: Abū al-ʿAlāʾ b. Dīnār al-Thaqafī, the client, scribe, and adviser of al-Ḥajjāj. When al-Ḥajjāj lay dying he appointed him over the land-tax revenues; Yazīd managed them rigorously, and al-Walīd confirmed him in that post, even saying, “My case with al-Ḥajjāj and Abū al-ʿAlāʾ is like a man who loses a dirham and finds a dinar.”
When Sulaymān became caliph he ordered Abū al-ʿAlāʾ brought in chains. He was short, ill-favoured, large-bellied, and misshapen. Sulaymān looked at him and exclaimed, “May Allah curse the one who appointed you!”
He replied, “Do not do that, Commander of the Believers. You have seen me when fortune had turned away from me; had you seen me in my days of ascendancy, you would have esteemed what you now despise.”
Sulaymān said, “May Allah fight him—how sound (3) his mind is!” Then