2112 – ʿAbdullah narrated to us; Ahmad ibn Muhammad narrated to us; Abu Bakr narrated to us, from ʿĀṣim, who said:

Abu Wāʾil said to me, “Do you know what I liken the reciters of our age to?” I replied, “To whom do you liken them?” He answered, “I compare them to a man who has fattened some sheep, but when he slaughtered them he finds them nothing but worthless scum, their bones containing no marrow; or to a man who took a handful of dirhams, dropped them into zībaq (mercury), then drew them out and struck them, only to discover that they were mere copper.”