be beaten, and he was flogged until he died, a little past seventy years of age. Ibn Khallikān cites him in his Wafayāt and says (1): “Bashshār ibn Burd ibn Yarjūkh al-ʿUqaylī, their client; the author of al-Aghānī (2) traces his lineage at length. He was a Basran who later settled in Baghdad, his family originally hailing from Ṭukhāristān (3). He was large and powerfully built, and his poetry ranks in the very first tier of the muwalladūn (the ‘new-style’ poets).

Among his verses is the celebrated line:
Do you know of any station beyond love
that could draw me near to you?—for love has cast me far away. (4)

He also said:
By Allah, I long for the magic of your eyes,
yet I fear the fates that overtake the lovers. (5)

And he said:
O people, my ear is enamoured with certain folk—
for the ear sometimes falls in love before the eye.
They said, “You rave, blind man!” I replied,
“The ear, like the eye, conveys to the heart whatever they perceive.” (6)

He further composed:
When opinion has reached the point of consultation, seek aid
in the resolve of a prudent adviser, or in the counsel of a resolute man.
Do not deem consultation beneath you;
for covert feathers are a strength to the primaries.
What good is a hand whose twin is bound in shackles?
What good is a sword unsupported by a hilt? (7)

Bashshār had been accustomed to praising al-Mahdī, until the vizier reported to the caliph that he had lampooned and maligned him, imputing to him a measure of zandaqa, claiming that he preferred fire to earth, excused Iblīs for refusing to prostrate to Adam, and that he had recited: