when a cloud drifted over to shade him, and a lion stood guard while he tended his companions’ mounts—for he used to insist, on every expedition, that he be the one to serve them.

Whenever Muṭarrif ibn al-Shikhkhīr entered his house, the very utensils there joined him in glorifying Allah. On one occasion he and a companion were walking in pitch darkness, and the tip of his whip shone forth, lighting their way.

When al-Ahnaf ibn Qays died, the cap of a man at the graveside slipped into the grave. The man reached down to retrieve it, only to find that the grave had been expanded before him as far as the eye could see.

Ibrāhīm al-Tamīmī could go a month, even two, without eating anything. Once he set out to buy food for his family but found none. Passing through a red plain, he scooped up a handful of its soil and returned home; when he opened it, it had turned into red wheat. Whenever he sowed from it, each ear came forth laden with grain from its root to its tip.

ʿUtbah al-Ghulām asked his Lord for three gifts: a melodious voice, abundant tears, and sustenance without toil. Whenever he recited, he wept and moved others to tears, his eyes flowing all his life; and when he returned home he would find his provision awaiting him, not knowing how it had arrived.

ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Zayd was struck with paralysis. He begged his Lord to release his limbs at the time of ablution, and so, whenever he performed ablution, his limbs regained mobility, only to stiffen again afterward.