Success (1) therein leads me on to that which has exhausted (2) everyone but me in their attempt to reach it and to probe its depths. Were this knowledge a speaking figure and I asked it, “Have you ever visited anyone like me?” (3) it would answer, “No.”

Among his verses—though some (4) transmit them for another[1]—[al-basīṭ]:
If you are content with a modest share of food,
you will wake among men a free soul, never despised. (5)
O morsel of my day, (6) so long as you glide down my throat,
I shall never pine for pearls or rubies.

He produced a vast body of poetry and prose, too abundant to tally (7). He also composed an independent treatise which he entitled “The Stringing (8) of Pearls on kāna and kāna.”

Among his graceful remarks is what he said regarding the ḥadith, “The lifespans of my community are between sixty and seventy.” (9) He explained: “Those before us lived long only because their journey through the open desert was long; when the caravan neared the land of settlement it was told, ‘Urge the mounts on!’”

A man asked him: “Which is better, that I engage in tasbīḥ or in istighfār?” (10) He replied, “A soiled garment needs soap more than perfume.”

He was asked about one who makes a bequest while in the throes of death; he said, “That is like someone who plasters his roof in December.”

Then, turning toward the Caliph al-Mustaḍīʾ while preaching, he declared: “O Commander of the Faithful, if I speak I fear you, and if I remain silent I fear for you. The words of one who says to you, ‘Fear Allah,’ are better (11) for you than those of one who says, ‘You are a household already forgiven.’ ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb used to say: ‘If it reaches me that one of my governors (12) has acted unjustly and I do not change it, then I am the unjust one, O …’”