Al-Khaṭīb further related (1) that Abu Tammām once called on Ibn Abī Duʿād. The latter said to him, “I imagine you are holding a grievance, Abu Tammām (2)?” He replied, “Reproach is directed to a single person, whereas you comprise all people.” Ibn Abī Duʿād asked, “Where did you get that turn of phrase?” He answered, “From (3) the words of Abu Nuwās:
Nor is it at all strange for Allah (4)
to gather the whole world in a single man.

On another day Abu Tammām praised him, saying (5):
The virtues of Aḥmad ibn Abī Duʿād
have made every age forget its flaws;
I have never travelled through distant lands
save that your generosity was my mount and my provision;
Hope and sure expectation abide with you
even when my camel grows anxious on the roads.

Ibn Abī Duʿād asked, “Did you coin this idea yourself, or did you take it from someone else?” He replied, “It is mine, though I merely alluded (6) to a line of Abu Nuwās (7):
Should words of praise one day flow toward another,
it is you, in truth, whom we mean.

Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Ṣūlī said: Among the select panegyrics that Abu Tammām composed for Aḥmad ibn Abī Duʿād is his verse (8):
O Aḥmad, many are the envious,
yet when the noble are counted you have no peer.
You have attained a lofty station (9), time-honoured (10),
a station of glory whose ancient pride is ever proud (11).