505 – Al-Hasan ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated to us. Mūsā ibn Abī ʿImrān—one of the scholars—told me:

“A Bedouin once came to Medina and attended the Friday prayer. He listened to the sermon and was delighted by what he heard. When the prayer was over he headed back to the house, and the Bedouin entered with the rest of the company. Food was then served, and he saw a spread of dishes quite out of keeping with the preacher’s words. At that he began to recite:

[baḥr al-ṭawīl]
‘The folk of Yathrib leave me puzzled indeed:
they fret about straightening us while they themselves are coarse.
They scorn our love of this world,
yet they gulp its milk in great draughts ⦗216⦘ till a fox could draw no more.
Whenever they mount the wooden pulpits they speak—and speak well—
but fine words are spoiled when the deeds betray them.’”