Aḥmad also said, according to the report of al-Faraj ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣabāḥ al-Barzaṭī, concerning a man who claims to treat a person rendered insane by epilepsy through incantations and charms, and who claims to address the jinn and converse with them—some of whom serve him and speak with him: “I would not like anyone to do it; I would much prefer that it be left undone.”

Abū Ḥafṣ narrated in his Book of Hiring, with his chain of transmission: “Abū Bakr drank some milk. He was told, ‘It is from payment for soothsaying that al-Nuʿaymān had practiced during the Jāhiliyyah.’ He rose and vomited it up.”

Abū Bakr al-Marwazī said: “I asked Abū ʿAbd Allāh about an issue of scrupulous piety, and he cited the report of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq—may Allah be pleased with him—concerning fayʾ (property acquired without battle).

“This is a subject that would be lengthy to set out fully, for reprehensible practices cannot be confined to a number that could be exhaustively enumerated. What we have mentioned indicates what we have left unmentioned. I ask Allah Most High to grant me sound guidance concerning what I have mentioned and aid in what I have explained. I seek from Him success in doing what pleases Him, and I seek refuge in Him from His displeasure and from all disobedience to Him, by His grace and generosity. He is sufficient for me, and He is the finest Disposer of affairs.

“With this, the book is concluded. Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds—a praise that neither ceases nor perishes. May Allah bless our master Muhammad, the Seal of the Messengers and the noblest of His servants, and his fellow prophets, his family, and all his Companions, and grant them abundant peace.

“The copying of it was completed on the eleventh of Ṣafar al-Khayr, in the year 866 AH, in the protected Ṣāliḥiyyah quarter of Damascus—may Allah keep it flourishing through His remembrance until the Day of Resurrection.

“This was done by the hand of Abū Bakr ibn Zayd al-Jurāʿī al-Ḥanbalī—may Allah show him kindness and forgive him, his parents, his teachers, and all the Muslims. Āmīn.

“In the margin of the original manuscript, the following is written: ‘Praise belongs to Allah alone. The collation and correction against the manuscript from which this was copied have been completed, although that manuscript is not correct. We have corrected this copy as much as possible. To Allah belong all praise and bounty.’”