439 – Muhammad ibn al-Husayn also informed me; he said: I heard Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan say: Someone once asked Ibn al-Raqāshī, “Did your father ever quote poetry for illustration?” He answered, “He used to recite:

(al-Baḥr al-Basīṭ)

We rejoice in the days as we see them pass,
yet every day gone by draws us nearer to the appointed end.”