2030 — ʿUbayd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad narrated to us; Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad ibn Nuṣayr related; he said: Aḥmad ibn Muhammad ibn Masrūq reported; he said: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Burjulānī reported; he said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad—meaning Ibn ʿĀʾisha—reported; he said: Muḥammad Abū Sufyān al-Tamīmī told me:

“ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd used to champion the doctrine of al-waʿīd (that every divine threat must inevitably be carried out). Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ said to him, ‘Abū ʿUthmān, you are a man of eloquent tongue, yet you have no knowledge of the deeper meanings of Arab speech. Do not count the one who pardons as someone who breaks his word.’ Then he recited ⦗1154⦘:

[al-Baḥr al-Ṭawīl]
Neither master nor neighbour dreads the force of my attack,
Nor do I shrink before the rage of the one who threatens.
And though I may menace a man and make him a promise,
My menace I revoke, while my promise I keep true.

2031 — It is related that Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ, may Allah have mercy on him, debated ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd about the question of waʿīd. ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd argued that going back on a threat is ugly and censurable according to the people of the language, citing customary usage: “…no one breaks promise or threat, nor does he spend the night….”

Abū ʿAmr replied, “If that poet was praised for both qualities, then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ likewise praised Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr—though the Prophet ﷺ had threatened him. The poet said:

[al-Baḥr al-Basīṭ]
‘I have been told that the Messenger of Allah has threatened me,
But forgiveness from the Messenger of Allah is my hope.’

The Prophet did not censure him for saying that; rather, it pleased him, and he pardoned Kaʿb. The poet then added:
‘Even though I have threatened a man and promised him,
I will not break my threat, and I will fulfil my promise.’

Abū ʿAmr concluded, ‘Where were you, then, when it came to following this linguistic usage—confirmed as well by sound reason?’