Abū al-Ḥusayn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh, the nephew of Mīmī, narrated to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṣafwān al-Baradḥī dictated to us; he said: Abū Bakr ibn Abī al-Dunyā told us; he said: Abū Bakr al-ʿUmarī told us; he said: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Uways related to me from Ibn Abī Fudayk, who said:

“It reached me that the prophet Solomon—peace be upon him—was once sitting when he saw a male sparrow pursuing a female sparrow for safad (copulation), yet she kept refusing him. The male struck his beak against the ground, then lifted it toward the sky. Solomon asked, ‘Do you know what he said to her?’ They replied, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ He said, ‘He said to her: By the Lord of the heavens and the earth, I do not seek intercourse with you; rather, I hope that from my offspring and yours there will arise those who glorify Allah on the earth.’”