For this reason Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “A single hardship will never overcome two eases.”

It is related that al-Hajjāj ibn Yūsuf al-Thaqafī—an infamous figure, may Allah pardon him—was a tyrant who killed people without right. A man once spoke in his presence and used a word that al-Hajjāj found objectionable. Now al-Hajjāj was highly skilled in Arabic; indeed, he is the one who introduced the system of diacritical marks into the Quran, which counts among his virtues despite his many vices. He said to the man, “That is not proper Arabic; the morphological pattern faʿlah does not occur in the language.”

The man replied, “I heard it from the Bedouins,” for scholars would take the language from the Bedouins of the open desert rather than from the towns, where Persians and Byzantines who had embraced Islam had influenced the tongue.

Al-Hajjāj said, “Go to the Bedouins and bring me an attestation from the speech of the Arabs proving that the pattern faʿlah exists in Arabic. You have such-and-such a number of days; if you do not return with it, I will cut off your head.”

The man departed in anguish, for al-Hajjāj always carried out his threats. He went searching among the Bedouins, and while on his way he heard a Bedouin say