Ishāq ibn Abd al-Rahmān said: Emir Khalaf ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalaf informed us; Khalaf ibn Muhammad ibn Ismāīl narrated to us; Khalaf ibn Sulaymān narrated to us; Khalaf ibn Muhammad Kardūs narrated to us; Khalaf ibn Mūsā al-Ammī narrated to us; my father narrated to us, from Qatādah, from Anas, who reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Every child of Adam is envious, though some people are better than others in regard to envy. An envious person is not harmed by his envy so long as he neither speaks of it with his tongue nor acts upon it with his hand.” (1)

I have cited this hadith here for two reasons. The first is to draw attention to its weakness. The second is to point out an interesting feature of its chain of transmission: it is serially transmitted through narrators named Khalaf.

• The Incantation for One Struck by the Evil Eye: “A Barrier That Bars, a Stone Bone-Dry, and a Kindling Flame”

Some authors mention, among the incantations that counteract the evil eye, the following account concerning Abū Abd Allāh al-Sājī (2). During one of his journeys for Hajj or a military campaign, he was riding a fine she-camel. Among his travelling companions was a man who cast the evil eye, and whatever he looked at was ruined. Abū Abd Allāh was told, “Protect your she-camel from the man who casts the evil eye.” He replied, “He has no means of harming my she-camel.”

The man was informed of what he had said. He waited until Abū Abd Allāh was away, went to his encampment, and looked at the she-camel. She began convulsing and fell. When Abū Abd Allāh returned, he was told, “The man has struck her with the evil eye, and she is as you can see.” He said, “Show me where he is.” He was directed to him, stood before him, and said, “In the name of Allah. A barrier that bars, a stone bone-dry, and a kindling flame. I have turned the evil eye of the one who cast it back upon him and upon the person dearest to him: ‘Look again: do you see any flaws? Then look again, and yet again; your sight will return to you humbled and weary.’” The evil-eye caster’s eyeballs then came out, while the she-camel rose unharmed.