So Iblis said to his cohorts of jinn, “Go after that man.” Yet they got nowhere with him. He then declared, “Leave him to me.” He came to the man disguised as a poor, elderly beggar and chose the moment when the man had stretched out for his midday rest—for he never slept night or day except for that brief nap. He knocked at the door.

“Who is it?” the man asked.

“A feeble old man who has been wronged,” came the reply.

He rose and opened the door, and the visitor began to pour out his complaints: “There is a dispute between me and my people. They have oppressed me and done such-and-such to me…” He went on like this until the time for the afternoon session arrived and the man’s short nap was lost. The judge said, “Come to me when I sit this afternoon and I will see that you receive your due.”

The old man left, and the judge took his seat, looking around for him but not finding him. He went out in search of him, and the next day again presided over the people while keeping an eye out, yet the old man did not appear.

When he returned home for his midday rest and lay down, the visitor came once more and knocked.

“Who is it?”

“The same wronged old man.”

He opened the door. The judge said, “Did I not tell you to come to me while I am sitting?”

“They are a wicked lot,” the old man answered. “When they know you are seated they promise, ‘We will give you your right,’ but as soon as you sleep they repudiate me.”

He replied, “Go now, and when I resume my session this afternoon, come to me.”

Because of this the judge missed his nap and went out, waiting for him, but he did not come. Fatigue overcame him, and he said to a member of his household, “Do not let anyone approach this door until I have slept, for I am worn out.”

At that very hour the visitor arrived. The servant said, “Back! Back!”

“I came to him yesterday and told him about my case,” the visitor protested.

“By Allah, we have strict orders not to let anyone near him,” the servant insisted.

Finding no way in, the visitor noticed a small opening in the wall, climbed through it, appeared inside the house, and began knocking on the inner door.

The judge awoke and exclaimed to the servant, “Did I not order you…?”

“By Allah, no one entered through me. Look and see where he came from.”

He went to the door and found it locked exactly as he had left it, yet the man was inside. Recognizing him, he said, “Enemy of Allah!”

“Yes,” Iblis answered. “You have bested me at every turn, so I did what you see in order to enrage you.” Thus Allah named him Dhul-Kifl, “the one who undertook a guarantee,” because he accepted a commitment and fulfilled it. (1)

Ibn Abī Ḥātim (2) also related—from Ibn ʿAbbās—a report similar to this. The same has been narrated from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Hārith, Muḥammad ibn Qays, Ibn Ḥujayrah al-Akbar, and others among the early believers.

Ibn Abī Ḥātim said: “My father narrated to us; Abū al-Jamāhir narrated to us; Saʿīd ibn Bashīr informed us; Qatādah narrated to us: I heard al-Ashʿarī—that is, Abū Mūsā (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was on this pulpit—say: ‘Dhul-Kifl was not a prophet; he was a righteous man who offered one hundred prayers each day. After him another man pledged to perform one hundred prayers daily, so he was called Dhul-Kifl.’” (3)

Ibn Jarīr likewise transmitted it through ʿAbd al-Razzāq, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, who said, “Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī said…”—and he reported it in a mursal form.