ABSTRACT
It is said that at a gathering of scholars and reciters of poetry in the caliphal palace, the ‘Abbasid ruler al-Mahdj (r. 158-69/775-85) enquired of two of the most renowned there present, al-Mufa∂∂al al-Îabbj and Åammhd al-Rhwiya, why the pre-Islamic poet Zuhayr ibn Abj Sulmh opened one of his compositions apparently in the middle of the topic. Mufa∂∂al replied: ‘No information on this has been conveyed to me’, whereas Åammhd rejoined: ‘Zuhayr did not speak thus, but rather thus’, and promptly quoted three lines as if they were the supposedly missing opening of the poem. Under pressure from the caliph, however, Åammhd admitted that he had concocted these lines himself. Accordingly Mahdj bestowed upon Åammhd 20,000 dirhams (silver coins) ‘on account of the excellence of his verses’, and upon Mufa∂∂al 50,000, ‘as a reward for the accuracy of his transmission’.1
