He is seen meek, yet he detests frivolity;
the people’s chatter can no longer preoccupy him.
Knowledge has shaken him free of every trace of ignorance;
the one who truly knows is nothing like the ignorant.
He scowls at the foolish whenever he meets them;
none of them is a familiar friend who banters with him.
He recalls what endures of life in the Hereafter,
and that deferred life has diverted him from the life at hand.

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yazīd ibn Jābir related that he heard ʿUmayr ibn Hāniʾ say:
“I entered upon ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, and he said to me: ‘What do you make of a man who saw a chain let down from heaven? The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—came, clung to it, and ascended. Then Abū Bakr came, clung to it, and ascended; after him ʿUmar came, clung to it, and ascended; then ʿUthmān came, clung to it, and the chain snapped, yet he kept on until he reached it, then ascended. At last the man who saw the dream himself came, clung to it, ascended, and thus became the fifth of them.’”

ʿUmayr said, “I said to myself, ‘It is he—it is ʿUmar—but he spoke indirectly about himself.’”

The author says: “It is possible that the man intended was ʿAlī, but prevailing anti-Alid sentiment at the time did not allow one to say so openly. (1)”

Muʿāwiyah ibn Yaḥyā narrated: Arṭāʾah told us that it was said to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, “If only you would appoint a trustworthy man over your food so that you are not poisoned, keep a guard when you pray, and withdraw from the land afflicted by plague.”

He replied, “O Allah, if You know that I fear any day short of the Day of Resurrection, then do not grant me safety from what I fear.”

ʿAlī ibn Abī Ḥamalah reported from al-Walīd ibn Hishām, who said:
“A Jew met me and said, ‘ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz will soon take charge.’

“After ʿUmar had assumed the caliphate another Jew met me and said, ‘Your companion has been given poison; tell him to act quickly and save himself.’

“I informed ʿUmar, and he said, ‘May Allah fight him—how well-informed he is! I know the exact moment when I was made to drink it, and even if my cure lay in nothing more than wiping the lobe of my ear, I would not do it.’”

This report was also transmitted by Abū ʿUmayr ibn al-Naḥḥās, from Ḍamrah, from him, who said: from