The poem closes with “annaka muḥtājun ilā falsihi”, exposing the way money can distort affection. This marks the end of Abū Ḥabīb’s poetic response in the chosen section.
Its central argument moved through foundations, measures, cultivation, trade, debt, and clothing. Each difficult word contributed to the imagery, and each image pushed the reasoning forward—the characteristic literary pleasure of al-Ḥarīrī’s maqāmāt.
The immediate story now raises a fresh question: who are these two eloquent men? In the next passage al-Ḥārith ibn Hammām seeks to discover their identities, opening the next stage of the narrative.