He amassed considerable wealth, yet distributed it among the poor and the needy. He performed the ḥajj once, accompanied by a host of indigent folk known only to Allah—exalted is He. He was noted for chivalry, for rushing to the aid of the distressed [and helping those in need], and for enjoining right and forbidding wrong. He would admonish the people while wearing thiyāb al-badhlah (plain working clothes) (1).

On one occasion he recited (2) the following couplet:
[basīṭ]
Among my companions there is no kindred soul with whom I might share the tales of Najd,
nor any ardent lover whose passion I could match.

He kept repeating it, entering into spiritual ecstasy. A young man in the audience, dressed in a qabāʾ (long robe) and a kalūta (cap), called out:

“O Shaykh, we are able, yet the people belittle us. By Allah, among them are those who would not condescend to vie with you, nor could your comprehension reach what they would say. Would you not rather recite:

[basīṭ]
When the caravans depart, among the company
there is none but a lover who himself is beloved;
It is as though Joseph rides upon every mount,
and in every household of the tribe there dwells a Jacob.”

At this the shaykh cried aloud, descended (3) from the pulpit, and went toward the youth to apologise to him, but could not find him. In his place he discovered a hole filled with much blood, caused by the youth’s incessant stamping (4) of his feet while the shaykh was reciting the verse.

Ibn (5) Khallikān (6) relates many of his odes, praises him highly, and records that he died this very year at the age of ninety-three. May Allah have mercy on him.

Ibn al-Athīr (7), author of Usd (8) al-Ghābah and al-Kāmil.

He is the eminent scholar ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn [Abī al-Karam Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn] ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Shaybānī al-Jazarī al-Mawṣilī, known as Ibn al-Athīr, compiler of the book Usd (9) al-Ghābah fī Asmāʾ