152 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to me; he said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Muṣʿab al-Zubayrī said to al-Mahdī:
I have fastened the rein of my own rope, secure and tight,
to the cords of your affection, with the knot of one who chooses well;
From you I have obtained a safeguarded covenant—
whoever wins its like from you will never find it betrayed;
I see you ennobling men, and I have never been
inferior to the one you promoted ahead of me;
So will you not make me, for your own sake, a shield?
By Allah’s binding pledge upon me, I shall never fail to give thanks.