«وَإِنِّي لَأَعْرِفُ الْآنَ مَنْ إِذَا أَنْشَأَ وَشَى»
And I know someone even now who, whenever he composes, adorns his prose beautifully.
Innī and the emphatic lām give the claim force. The word al-ān, “now,” directly counters the assembly’s assumption that exceptional skill belongs only to former times.
The paired verbs anshaʾa / washā link composition with adornment. The elder is no longer speaking only about a critical theory; he asserts that an identifiable contemporary writer can demonstrate the skill under dispute.