Shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn Abū Shāma (1)—may Allah have mercy on him—said: By “al-Ustād” the poet meant Kāfūr the Ikhshīdid, and his phrase “the House of ʿAlī” refers to the Fāṭimids, as they styled themselves, though in truth they were no Fāṭimids. Rather, they were pretenders who traced their line to ʿUbayd—whose personal name was Saʿīd—a Jewish blacksmith from Salamiyah. He then quoted what we have already reported from the leading imams regarding them and their scathing attack on their genealogy.

He (2) added: I treated this matter at length in the Abridged History of Damascus, under the entry for ʿAbd al-Raḥīm (3) ibn Ilyās.

He likewise recorded in al-Rawḍatayn, at this very point, numerous examples of their abominations (4) and of the blatant words of unbelief they sometimes voiced—together with the grievous calamities they wrought; may Allah curse them. I too have cited many incidents while recounting their conduct in previous years, things that deafen the ears and repel sound natures (5).

Abū Shāma (6) went on: I have composed a separate work entitled Kashf mā kāna ʿalayhi Banū ʿUbayd min al-kufr wa-l-kidhb wa-l-makr wa-l-kayd (“Unveiling the Unbelief, Falsehood, Guile, and Treachery of the Banū ʿUbayd”). Scholars as well have written numerous refutations of them; among the most outstanding is the book of Qāḍī Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī, entitled Kashf al-Asrār wa-Hatk al-Astār (“Lifting the Veils and Rending the Curtains”).

How fine are the verses composed by one of the poets in praise of the Banū Ayyūb for what they accomplished in the lands of Egypt (7):

[in the ṭawīl metre]

Are you not the ones who erased the realm of unbelief (8)—
of the Banū (9) ʿUbayd in Egypt? That, indeed, was sheer disbelief!
A renegade, Shīʿī, esoteric band—
fire-worshippers! No righteous lineage do they possess.
They hide their blasphemy while displaying Shīʿī zeal—
seeking thereby (10) a cover; ignorance enveloped them all.