I would not consider them worth a mention, let alone worth attacking. Muslim ibn al-Walīd composed some excellent verses on such a motif:
Tell me, little Mayyās, what kind of person are you?
You are neither known nor unknown.
Your honor is too small to be lampooned
while praise, as you know, is much beyond you.
Go then! You have been set free by your honor—
an honor with which you made yourself great, humble as you are.38
24.2
ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā said:
Go! You have been set free by an honor
so vile it protected you.
He who lampoons you
wastes his poetry completely.
I will turn my lampoon to others
and keep it safe from you,
Asking Him who created mankind
to see you as I do.
24.3
These verses seem to be taken from the words of Abū Hishām to Bashshār:
You became great through the humbleness of your parents,
and because you are so vile you dare to talk back.
24.4
Muslim lampooned al-ʿAbbās ibn Aḥnaf:
Pretenders get no satisfaction through the Banū Ḥanīfah,
leave the Ḥanīfah alone and find yourself another ancestry.
Go to Bedouins—claiming them gives satisfaction,
I think you look like a Bedouin.
We ran a fierce race, I put you to the test,
by setting a goal you could neither pursue nor surpass.
Go then! You have been set free by my forbearance,
but I pledge a violent assault when I cannot control my anger.
24.5
Ibrāhīm ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Ṣūlī composed the following verses about Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Zayyāt:
Be what you like, say what you want,
explode on the right, thunder on the left!
You were saved by your vileness, like a fly
protected by shit from being caught.
24.6
These critics of Abū Tammām are as Abū Nuwās describes:
I am at a loss as to how to lampoon you;
my tongue just will not work.
When I think about your honor
I take pity on my poetry.
24.7
And also as ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā describes:
When we put you down, we elevate you.
If we lampoon you, we praise you.
How does one lampoon a man of his standing?
God help us! God help you!
24.8
Also in this vein:
I did not think ugliness could be beautiful,
or that beauty could be ugly,
Until I lampooned Yaḥyā in verses full of filthy words,
and my lampoon turned to praise.
24.9
Al-Ḥuṭayʾah said:
Who are you? We have forgotten who you are.
What kind of wind are you?
Are you the kind of wind that comes with plants and locusts—
they fly away, but you do not appear to be flying away?
Give the land a rest and take your leave
after a scandalous act, just as fornicating slave-girls do.39
24.10
Another poet said:
A slave of the Banū Mismaʿ insulted me,
but I held back and protected my honor.
I did not deign an answer.
Who bites a dog when it bites?
24.11
Yazīd al-Muhallabī said:
I am told that a dog who fears my aim
barks at me from a safe distance.
If you had any worth, or if you could even be seen or heard,
we would lampoon you.
So stop insulting me, for my equanimity comes
because I lack an equal.
24.12
Another poet said:
I will not lampoon you, you are no match for me.
Lampoon me however you can!40
How can I lampoon you if Satire cries in fear
of smelling the stench of your provenance?
24.13
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbbād the Scribe composed the following verses about Abū Saʿd al-Makhzūmī:
You were certain that no matter how long you vilified others,
you would be protected from vilification by your vileness.
The only answer to a dog bark
is a simple, “Away with you, dog!”
Relax, stay where you are,
do not wander east and west!
Reveal
