ji was prompted to compose a couplet when he was criticized for gazing at a handsome youth near the White Bridge in Damascus by the local scholars Ahmad ibn Sha hi n (d. 1644) and ʿAbd al-Rahman al-ʿIma di (d. 1641), unless he believed, or wanted his readers to believe, that this was indeed the case. One may also consider the following three stories:
(I) In his poetic anthology Nafh at al-rayh a nah) Muh ibbi mentioned that his close friend Ah mad al-S afadi (d. 1689), toward the end of his life, fell madly in love with a youth called Raba h . Muh ibbi then cited a short poem his love-struck friend said, the last verse of which indicates the youth in question:
Abandon your occupation, and occupy yourself with a beloved, and perhaps time will grant you Raba h 113