—that is their very nature, not a trait recently acquired;
and know that, of all dispositions, the worst are innovations.
(The poem continued with further verses.)

At this the Bedouin chief al-Aqraʿ ibn Ḥābis exclaimed, “By my father, this man is certainly aided from on high! His spokesman is more eloquent than our spokesman, and his poet out-poets our poet.”

When the delegation finished, they embraced Islam, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, rewarded them generously. Concerning them the verse was revealed: “Indeed, those who call out to you from behind the chambers—most of them do not use reason” (Qur’an 49:4).

Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb related: Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated to us from Muḥammad ibn al-Zubayr al-Ḥanẓalī, who said: Al-Zibrqān ibn Badr, Qays ibn ʿĀṣim, and ʿAmr ibn al-Ahtam came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. The Prophet said to ʿAmr ibn al-Ahtam, “Tell me about this al-Zibrqān; as for this other man, I need not ask you about him”—and, as he (Muḥammad) remarked, the Prophet already knew Qays.

ʿAmr replied, “He is obeyed by his own people, formidable in confrontation, and a protector of those who rely on him.”

Al-Zibrqān retorted, “He has said what he has said while knowing that I am better than the picture he has painted.”

So ʿAmr said, “Never have I known you except as a man of slack courage, narrow spirit, with a foolish father and a base maternal uncle.” Then he added, “Messenger of Allah, I have spoken truthfully on both occasions: when he pleased me I spoke of him with the best I know, and when he angered me I mentioned the worst I know of him.”

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, observed, “Indeed, some speech is as (potent as) magic.”

A similar report was transmitted by ʿAlī ibn Ḥarb al-Ṭāʾī from Abū Saʿd al-Haytham ibn Maḥfūẓ, from Abū al-Muqawwim al-Anṣārī Yaḥyā ibn Yazīd, from al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtaybah, from Maqsim, from Ibn ʿAbbās, with an unbroken chain.

Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm said: Al-Aswad ibn Shaybān narrated to us; he said: Abū Bakr ibn Thamāmah ibn al-Nuʿmān al-Rāsibī narrated to us, from Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Shikhkhīr, who said: