16
or that al-Nābighah al-Jaʿdī was a poet while al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī was not; or to say that the moon is luminous whereas the sun is not, that Mercury is a blazing star but Saturn is no such star, that Muslim was versed in hadith whereas al-Bukhārī was not, or that his book is more reliable than al-Bukhārī’s—and the like, in a list too long to rehearse.
الْهَيْئَةَ، أَوْ أَنَّ النَّابِغَةَ الْجَعْدِيَّ كَانَ شَاعِرًا، وَالنَّابِغَةَ الذُّبْيَانِيَّ لَمْ يَكُنْ شَاعِرًا،
أَوْ أَنْ يُقَالَ:
إِنَّ الْقَمَرَ مُسْتَنِيرٌ، وَالشَّمْسَ لَيْسَتْ مُسْتَنِيرَةً، أَوْ أَنَّ عُطَارِدَ نَجْمٌ ثَاقِبٌ، وَزُحَلُ لَيْسَ بِنَجْمٍ ثَاقِبٍ، أَوْ أَنَّ مُسْلِمًا كَانَ عَالِمًا بِالْحَدِيثِ، وَالْبُخَارِيَّ لَمْ يَكُنْ كَذَلِكَ، أَوْ أَنَّ كِتَابَهُ أَصَحُّ مِنْ كِتَابِ الْبُخَارِيِّ. وَنَحْوَ ذَلِكَ مِمَّا يَطُولُ تَعْدَادُهُ.