Abu al-Hasan ʿAli ibn al-Hasan al-Razi—later known as al-Baghdadi—the preacher, was a man of many virtues and a gifted poet. Among his verses on renunciation are the following:

[Khafīf metre]
Prepare, O soul, for death, and hasten
toward salvation; prudent is he who makes ready.
You know full well that no living being is immortal,
and that there is no escape from death.
All that you possess is but on loan—
you will soon return it, for every loan is reclaimed.
You grow heedless while events never do;
you amuse yourself while death presses on.
Do not hope to remain in the very mine of death,
nor look for any land (1) where you will not be fetched.
What kingdom on earth, what portion at all
has a man whose share of the earth is a grave?
How can one crave the sweetness of days
while every breath he draws is being counted?

Abu Muhammad ʿAbd Allah ibn (ʿAli ibn) (2) Ahmad (3) ibn al-Zaytuni (4), al-Bawaziji (5), later al-Baghdadi, was a virtuous shaykh and an authoritative transmitter. Among the lines he recited are:

[Khafīf metre]
Our plea of need grows thin, for had we been content
with our allotted share, it would have sufficed us.
Why, then, do we serve other servants
when our poverty and our wealth alike lie with Allah?

Abu al-Faḍl ʿAbd al-Rahim ibn Naṣr Allah ibn ʿAli ibn Manṣur ibn al-Kayyal al-Wasiti came from a house of jurisprudence and the judiciary (6). He was one of the accredited certifiers in Baghdad. Of his poetry (7) is:

[Ṭawīl metre]
Perish a world whose delight never lasts—
it pleases a moment, then lays bare its flaws.
It shows you comeliness (8) behind a veil, adorned and fair,
then lifts the veil to reveal a sallow, hideous crone.