35 – Abu ʿAmr Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Abi Rizmah al-Marwazi narrated to us; he said: ʿAli ibn Shaqiq informed us, al-Husayn ibn Waqid informed us, from Abu Ghalib, who said:

“I used to travel back and forth to Syria on business, and the main reason for those journeys was to visit Abu Umamah. There I met a man from the tribe of Qays, one of the finest Muslims, and I would lodge with him. Staying with us was his nephew, a wayward youth; the uncle would command and forbid him, even strike him, yet he would not obey.

The young man fell ill and sent for his uncle, but the uncle refused to come. So I went to the uncle, brought him, and ushered him in to the boy. The uncle at once began reviling him, saying, ‘You vile enemy of Allah! Did you not do such-and-such? Did you not do such-and-such?’

The boy asked, ‘Have you finished, uncle?’ ‘Yes,’ he replied.

‘Tell me,’ said the boy, ‘if Allah were to hand me over to my mother, what would she do with me?’

The uncle answered, ‘By Allah, she would certainly see to it that you entered Paradise.’

The boy said, ‘Then, by Allah, Allah is more merciful to me than my mother.’ With that, the youth passed away.

ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan ⦗45⦘ came out to attend his funeral, and I entered the grave with the uncle. They had scraped out a trench for him without making a niche, so we said, ‘Line it with bricks,’ and leveled it. One of the bricks slipped, whereupon the uncle sprang back and withdrew. I asked, ‘What is the matter?’ He said, ‘His grave has been filled with light and has been opened up for him as far as the eye can see.’”