a leaning toward Shiʿism, and some even went so far as to claim that he subscribed to the transmigrationist doctrine, arguing—out of ignorance and feeble reason, if the report is sound—that he based this on the Almighty’s words, “in whatever form He willed, He assembled you” (Quran 82:8).

On one occasion he sought permission to enter upon ʿAbd al-Malik. When he was admitted, ʿAbd al-Malik said to him, “To hear of al-Muʿaydi is better than to see him.” He replied, “Gently, (1) O Commander of the Believers. A man is but his two smallest parts: his heart and his tongue. If he speaks, he speaks with eloquence; if he fights, he fights with courage. I am the one who says, (2)

I have tested events and they have tested me—
my mettle laid bare by all I have endured.
Men are never hidden from my sight,
for I am skilled in parrying and well-versed.
You see a scrawny man and look down on him,
yet wrapped in his clothes a roaring lion prowls. (3)
The comely youth delights you and you choose him,
but that handsome fellow betrays your hope. (4)
A woman’s adornment is not in what men may know;
her truest ornament is nobility and good. (5)(6)
The weakest birds have the longest bodies,
while hawks and falcons are never tall.
The camel is bulky but lacks intelligence—
sheer size does not spare the camel the goad.
It is mounted, then struck with a staff;
it knows no courtesy and shows no disapproval.
The nabaʿ twig keeps growing straight,
yet never grows tall, while the ʿaḍbāʾ is curved.

Abū al-Faraj ibn Ṭarāra (7) discussed the unfamiliar expressions in this anecdote and its poem at great length.

They also relate that Kuthayyir ʿAzzah once entered upon ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān and praised him in a qaṣīdah that opens:

Upon the son of Abū al-ʿĀṣ are sturdy coats of mail—
the armourer perfected their links and let them fall long. (8)