2668. Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Nuʿaym, by written authorization, related to us; al-Zubayr ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid related to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Qaṭṭān related to us; Abū ʿĪsā ibn ʿIyāḍ ibn Abī Shahma related to us; Muḥammad ibn Rāshid Abū Bakr al-Iṣbahānī related to us. He said: I heard Abū Ibrāhīm Ismāʿīl ibn Yaḥyā al-Muzanī recite (in the ṭawīl metre):

I testify that Allah—none exists besides Him—
 and I bear witness that the Resurrection is true; in this I stand sincere.
And that the bonds of faith consist of a lucid profession
 and a righteous act that may increase and diminish.
That Abū Bakr was the caliph appointed by his Lord,
 and that Abū Ḥafṣ was ever ardent for the good.
I further call my Lord to witness that ʿUthmān excelled,
 and that ʿAlī’s merit is uniquely his own.
They are imams whose guidance people follow;
 may Allah curse whoever dares to disparage them. ⦗1475⦘
So what is it with the defiant who give voice to folly,
 and with the fool who neither recoils nor desists from slander?