"The Umayyad poets took for granted the superiority of those who had gone before them. Thus Farazdaq, when commenting on the inferior poetry of a contemporary rival, declared that
    'Poetry was once a magnificent camel. Then, one day, it was slaughtered. So Imr’ul Qays came and took his head, 'Amr ibn Kulthum took his hump, Zuhayer the shouldrs, al-A'sha and Nabigha the thighs, and Tarafa and Labid the stomach. There remained only the forearms and the offal, which we split among ourselves. The butcher then said, "Hey you, there remains only the blood and impurities. See that I get them." "They are yours," we replied. So we took the stuff, cooked it, ate it and excreted it. Your verses are from the excrement of that butcher.' --Cited in Tarif Khalidi, Arabic Historical Thought"

--Night & Hors*s & th* D*s*rt