And it is attributed to Abu al-Ala' al-Ma'arri that he said:

They say to me, "Say praises concerning Ali,"

And if I do not do so, they say, "Stubborn opponent."

And I did not withhold poetry from him out of excessive apprehension,

Nor is it that I am deviating from the sect of truth.

But I have withheld my poetry from the one

Upon whom our Quran and the mosques are built.

For if the water of the seven seas which

Were created were ink, and the heavens were paper,

And the thickets of Allah's creation were the pens of a writer,

When writing exhausts them, [they remain] fortresses of wonders.

And all of mankind and the Jinn were writers,

And for each there was a supporter and an assistant...

And they sought to enumerate the virtues of Haydar (Ali),

They would not have counted [even] one of those virtues.