Then another, perched in a tree, called out, “I am Sumaymīt.”
They responded, “A nasnās—seize him!”
He added, “The Banu Mahrah hunt the creature and eat it.”
He went on: “The Banu Umīm, descendants of Lawadh son of Shem son of Noah (1), once settled in Zunnār, a sandy region thick with date-palms. Voices of the jinn could be heard there until the people multiplied; when they rebelled, Allah punished and annihilated them, leaving only a few survivors whom the Arabs still chance upon. Every man and woman among those remnants has a single hand or foot on one side of the body only, and they are called nasnās.”
I remarked, “This is like the saying of some: ‘Mankind has gone, and the nasnās remain.’ They resemble human beings but are not truly human. Perhaps they arose from a mixture of apes and people—glory be to the All-Powerful.”
It has also been reported that Yaḥyā ibn Aktham (2) was seen in a dream, and that he had been forgiven and admitted to Paradise.
Al-Sarrāj (3) states in his History: “He died at al-Rabadhah (4) on his return from Ḥajj, on a Friday in Dhū al-Ḥijjah of the year 242 AH.”
His nephew said, “He reached the age of eighty-three.”