343 – Hārūn ibn Abī Yaḥyā narrated to me; al-ʿUmari, Jaʿfar ibn ʿAmr, informed me, on the authority of a certain shaykh, from Muḥārib, who said: Maslama ibn ʿAbd al-Malik instructed the guardian of his children, “Let my sons drink abundantly of poetry, for it knits their minds together, lengthens their tongues with eloquence, and is the best provision you can give them.”