103 — ‘Abd Allāh narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Rāzī narrated to us, saying: ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Maghrā’ narrated to us, from Mujālid, from al-Sha‘bī, who said:

I asked Ibn ‘Abbās, “Who was the first to embrace Islam?” He replied, “Abū Bakr al-Siddīq.” Then he said, “Have you not heard the words of Hassān ibn Thābit:

[Basīt metre]
‘When you recall your sorrow for a trusted brother,
Remember your brother Abū Bakr and all he did.
The best of creation after the Prophet, the most God-fearing and just,
And the most faithful to the charge he bore;
The second, the follower, whose presence was praiseworthy,
And the first among the people to believe the messengers’?”