He thereupon asked Abū ʿUbaydah about the matter, and he answered, “Fifty volumes.”

So he ordered that the two books be brought and had a horse led in. Turning to Abū ʿUbaydah he said, “Read your book word for word and lay your hand on each corresponding spot.”

Abū ʿUbaydah replied, “I am no veterinarian (1); this is only something I collected from the Arabs.”

He then said to me, “Stand up and put your hand on the horse.”

I stood, rolled up my sleeve and the hem of my garment, sprang forward, seized the horse by its ear, placed my hand on its forelock, and began to press one part after another, saying, “This is called such-and-such,” while reciting lines of verse about each part, until I reached the hoof (2). He ordered that the horse be given to me, and whenever I wished to annoy Abū ʿUbaydah I would mount the horse and ride over to him (3).

Ibn Durayd reports that al-Aṣmaʿī was stingy and used to collect anecdotes about misers (4).

Muḥammad ibn Sallām said, “We were with Abū ʿUbaydah near al-Aṣmaʿī’s house when we heard a great commotion inside. People hurried to find out what it was, but Abū ʿUbaydah said, ‘They make a fuss like that only over bread; that is exactly what they do when a single loaf is missing’ (5).”

Al-Aṣmaʿī himself said, “Whatever I attained, I attained through witty anecdotes” (6).