His saying: "This is nothing but the legends (asatir) of the ancients." Al-Kalbi said:

When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) narrated to his people the accounts of the first generations, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith—one of the Banu 'Abd al-Dar—said: "If I wished, I could say the like of this. This is nothing but the legends of the ancients: the lies and falsehoods of the ancients."

Muhammad [Ibn Abi Zamanin] said: "The singular of 'asatir' is 'usturah' (legend/fable)."