والفضل للأول
The merit of precedence belongs to the first.
In this second comparison, both Abū Tammām and Abū al-Ṭayyib represent separation as a path to death, with recognizable correspondences in diction. If the later version is equal in meaning and force, change of arrangement by itself does not demonstrate superiority.
Priority of invention and superiority of execution are distinct. The first poet may retain the credit for introducing the expression even when a later poet offers an equally effective recasting.