he wrote a letter to abu almughira ibn hazm hazm in which he mentioned the shortcomings of the people of andalusia in immortalizing the news of their scholars the exploits of their virtuous men and the biographies of their kings. he said in it if you say that this was done by your scholars and that they wrote books but they did not reach us then this is a claim that was not accompanied by investigation because there is nothing between us and you except the spirit of a rider or the night of a boat. if a traveler were to breathe in your country he would hear about our country in the graves let alone those in the houses and palaces. they accepted his words as they accepted the collection of ibn abd rabbih among you which he called the necklace although he is to be blamed for it because he did not make the virtues of his country the center of his necklace and the virtues of its kings the orphan of his path.
كتب إلى أبي المغيرة ابن حزمن حزم رسالة يذكر فيها تقصير أهل الأندلس في تخليد أخبار علمائهم ومآثر فضلائهم وسير ملوكهم ويقول فيها فإن قلت إنه كان ذلك من علمائكم وألفوا كتبا لكنها لم تصل إلينا فهذه دعوى لم يصحبها تحقيق لأنه ليس بيننا وبينكم إلا روحة راكب أو دلجة قارب، لو نفث ببلدكم مصدور، لأسمع ببلدنا في القبور، فضلا عمن في الدور والقصور، وتلقوا قوله بالقبول كما تلقوا ديوان ابن عبد ربه منكم الذي سماه ب العقد ، على أنه يلحقه فيه بعض اللوم إذ لم يجعل فضائل بلده واسطة عقده، ومناقب ملوكه يتيمة سلكه. .