Ṣāfī said: “By Allah, I witnessed everything he foretold come to pass, without the slightest difference.”

Ibn al-Jawzami (1) transmitted—on the authority of one of al-Muʿtaḍid’s servants—who said:

“One day the Caliph was asleep during the midday siesta while we were seated around his bed. He awoke in a fright and cried out for us. We came to him and he said: ‘Woe to you! Go to the Tigris. The first vessel you find coming downstream empty, bring me its boatman and keep him under guard.’

“We hurried off and found a boatman in an empty sumayriyya (2) drifting with the current. We brought him to the Caliph. When he saw the Caliph he was almost undone, and the Caliph shouted at him with a mighty cry so that the man’s soul seemed ready to depart.

“The Caliph said to him: ‘Woe to you, accursed one! Tell me truthfully about the woman you killed today, or I will strike off your head.’

“He stammered, then said: ‘Yes, O Commander of the Faithful. At dawn today I was at such-and-such a landing place when a woman the like of whom I have never seen came down, dressed in sumptuous clothes and wearing much jewellery and gems. Greed overcame me; I contrived to silence her, drowned her, and took everything she had of ornaments and garments. I was afraid to return with them to my house lest the matter become known, so I intended to go to Wāsiṭ, but these attendants of yours seized me.’

“The Caliph asked, ‘And where is her jewellery?’

“He replied, ‘In the bow of the boat beneath the buwārī (3).’

“The Caliph ordered the jewellery to be brought, and it was produced. He then commanded that the boatman be drowned in the very place where he had drowned the woman, and that proclamation be made summoning the woman’s family so that they might receive her property. They arrived three days later, and he handed over to them all the jewellery and garments that had been with her.

“His attendants asked him, ‘O Commander of the Faithful, how did you come to know of this?’

“He said, ‘I saw it in my sleep: it was as though an old man, white of head, beard, and clothing, was calling—peace and blessings be upon him—“O Aḥmad! O Aḥmad! Seize the first boatman to come downstream at this very hour, question him about the woman he killed and robbed today, and apply the legal punishment to him.” And events unfolded just as you have witnessed.’”

Khafīf (4) al-Samarkandī, the chamberlain, said:

“I was with my master al-Muʿtaḍid on one of his hunting excursions. He had become separated from the army and no one was with him but me when a lion suddenly appeared and headed straight for us.

“Al-Muʿtaḍid said to me, ‘Khafīf, have you any courage in you?’

“I replied, ‘By Allah, my lord, none!’ He said, ‘Not even enough to hold my horse while I dismount?’ I said, ‘Yes, that much.’

“He dismounted, I took the reins, he tucked the ends of his garments into his belt, drew his sword, threw its scabbard to me, and advanced toward the lion. The lion leapt at him; al-Muʿtaḍid struck it with his sword and cut off its paw. While the lion was preoccupied with its paw, he struck it a second blow on the crown of its head and split it open. The lion fell dead. He approached, wiped his sword on its mane, then returned to me, sheathed his sword, mounted his horse, and we went back to the army.

“I remained in his company until he died, and by Allah I never heard him mention the incident to anyone, so I do not know—”