and Ethiopic and Zanjī (1), and he possessed an outstanding gift for the composition of verse. Among his poems are the following (2):

[Tawīl metre]
If (3) a single drop were to fall into the very depths of the sea
from a rain-cloud one day, he could, should he wish, still point it out.
And were he to rule the whole world so that its kings,
in east and west alike, became his slaves, he would never boast of it.

He also produced, by way of paronomasia (4)(5), the verses:

[Tawīl metre]
You have prolonged your blame of me for avoiding a company
of paltry, despicable folk whose generosity is not to be hoped for.
You find their door—may Allah never bless them—
closed to the seeker of kindness when he comes in hope (6).
They guard their wealth, yet religion and honour among them are forfeit;
what have they to fear from the satire of any satirist (7)?
Whenever the truly generous set out upon the road of giving,
they set out upon seventy different roads of miserliness.

He left behind fine panegyrics, polished poems, and sublime themes, and would sometimes match the poetry of al-Buḥturī with lines that nearly equalled it.

They relate that al-Wajīh never became angry. A group once wagered with a man that, if he succeeded in provoking him, the man would receive such-and-such (8). The man therefore came to al-Wajīh and posed a question; al-Wajīh answered. The fellow said, “Shaykh, you are mistaken.” Al-Wajīh restated the answer in different words. The man said, “You are mistaken again.” Al-Wajīh replied a third time in other wording, whereupon the man said, “You are lying, and it seems you have forgotten your grammar (9).” Al-Wajīh said (10), “Perhaps you have not understood what I am saying.” The man retorted, “On the contrary, I do understand, but you are wrong [in the answer].” Al-Wajīh responded, “Then state what you have so that we may benefit from you.” The man thereupon became abusive (speaking harshly), but al-Wajīh merely smiled and said (11): “If you had a wager, you have lost it. Your case in this is like that of the mosquito—the gnat—that settled on the back of an elephant. When it wished to fly off (12) it said to him, ‘Brace yourself, for I intend (13) to fly.’ The elephant replied, ‘I did not feel you when you landed; why should I brace myself when you depart?’”

He passed away—may Allah have mercy on him—in Shaʿbān of this same year and was buried in the Wazīriyya cemetery.