“…‘How was your ʿĪd, Abū ʿAbd Allāh?’
He replied, ‘We passed a day in which there was no sun.’ The Caliph laughed and said, ‘Abū ʿAbd Allāh, my power is through you.’

Al-Khaṭīb ⦗1⦘ remarked: Ibn Abī Duʿād had gained mastery over al-Wāthiq, pressing him to intensify the miḥnah (inquisition) and to oblige people to profess the createdness of the Quran.

He added: It is also said that al-Wāthiq retracted that view before his death. ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Abī al-Fath informed me—Ahmad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥasan related to us; Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿArafah related to us; Ḥāmid ibn al-ʿAbbās told me, from a man, from al-Mahdī—that al-Wāthiq died having repented of the claim that the Quran was created.

He ⦗2⦘ also narrated that al-Wāthiq’s tutor once came in to see him, and the Caliph honored him lavishly. When he was asked about it he said, “He was the first to loosen my tongue with the remembrance of Allah and to draw me near to His mercy.”

One of the poets wrote to him ⦗3⦘:
“I held back my soul’s desires from chasing after wealth
And said to it, ‘Desist from that paltry quest;’
For the Commander of the Faithful, within his very palm,
Turns the millstone of provisions in ceaseless motion.”

He endorsed the petition, writing: “Your soul has lifted you above humiliation and summoned you to its due share; therefore accept what you have sought with ease.” He then bestowed upon the poet a generous gift.

Among his poetry are the lines ⦗4⦘:
“Destiny runs on with reins unchecked;
Be patient—no state of affairs remains unchanged.”

And of al-Wāthiq’s own verses ⦗5⦘:
“Turn away from ugliness; never pursue it,
And to whom you show kindness, increase that kindness.
You will be spared every plot your foe may weave
When the enemy schemes and you yourself do not.”

Judge Yaḥyā ibn Aktham ⦗6⦘ said, “No Abbasid caliph ever treated the family of Abū Ṭālib as well as al-Wāthiq did; he died leaving none of them in need.”