[A collection of five works, the first two by al-Thaʿālibī, the rest by different authors, namely: (1) al-Ījāz wa-al-iʿjāz, a collection of elegant and witty sayings by illustrious and learned persons ; (2) Bard al-akbād, an anthology in prose and verse of passages in which the numerals occur ; (3) elegant sayings, speeches and letters, selected from a work, entitled al-Bayān wa-al-tabyīn, by ʿAmr ibn Baḥr al-Jāḥiẓ ; (4) Aḥāsin al-maḥāsin, a collection of ethical sentences, by Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥusayn al-Rukhkhajī ; (5) Ghāyat al-arab, on the popular proverbs and colloquial expressions of the Arabs, by Mufaḍḍal ibn Salamah.].