Time betrayed me by taking her away,
And once I had felt utterly safe with her.
I bade farewell to my patience when I bade her farewell;
My heart went off with her as a fellow traveller (1).

Ibn al-Muʿtazz sent him verses of condolence, seeking to comfort him for his loss (2) concerning her (3):

O leader of guidance, it is we, not you, whom sorrow consumes;
may you live on, unharmed and whole.
You taught us to show gratitude for blessings,
and, when calamity strikes, to submit in acceptance.
Turn away from what is past, for that which was delight
has now become a splendid reward.
We are content to die so that you may live—
in that I reckon for myself a mighty share.
Whoever dies willingly at your side
has attained success and dies an honoured death.

One night al-Muʿtaḍid was sitting with his boon-companions. When the evening’s merriment ended he withdrew to his concubines, and the company fell asleep. A servant from the Caliph roused them and said, “His Majesty has been unable to sleep since you left. He has composed one line of verse whose companion eludes him; whoever can supply it shall receive a reward. The line is:

When we awoke (4) from the phantom that had drifted past,
The dwelling lay deserted and the place of meeting far away.

The men sat up on their couches, pondering a response, when one of them spontaneously recited:

So I said to my eyes, ‘Return to sleep and take your rest;
perhaps that visiting phantom will come again.’

When the servant carried these lines to the Caliph they pleased him greatly, and he ordered a generous reward for their author.

On another day al-Muʿtaḍid (5) expressed great admiration for the following verses by the Basran poet al-Ḥasan ibn Munayr al-Māzinī:

My yearning is for the one who banished sleep so it would not return,
And added yet another pang to my heart’s wounds.
It is as though the sun flashed from the folds of his cloak in splendour,
Or the full moon rose from the borders of his garment (6).
Facing the one he loves, even though his offence be grave,
He is excused for the deed he has done.
In his face is an advocate that erases his wrongs from hearts;
wherever he intercedes, he is held in honour.

When the month of Rabīʿ al-Awwal of that year—289 AH—arrived, the Caliph al-Muʿtaḍid’s illness grew severe.