“…All praise is Yours—whether for a blessing bestowed
or for a punishment turned away. (1)
You will, and so You do whatever You have willed;
You hear from where no sound is heard.”

He said: I hurried outside and asked the bath-keeper, “Did you not claim that no one had entered your bath after me?”

He replied, “Yes, indeed! Why do you ask?”

I said, “Because I heard someone utter those words.”

He asked, “You actually heard him?”

I answered, “Yes.”

He said, “My master, that is a jinni who appears to us from time to time. He recites poetry and speaks fine words filled with admonition.”

I asked, “Have you memorised any of his verses?”

He said, “Yes,” and then chanted to me:

“O sinner who has gone too far—slow down!
How long will you persist, piling sin upon sin in ignorance?
Time and again you anger the Majestic with a loathsome deed,
while He continues to treat you with perfect goodness.
How can the eyes of one who does not know
whether the One on the Throne is pleased with him ever find rest?”

ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, Abū Khāzim (2), the Ḥanafī judge, was among the finest qāḍīs, the notables of the jurists, and the leading scholars—scrupulous, upright, and deeply devout, renowned for his integrity and trustworthiness. Ibn al-Jawzī records in al-Munṭaẓam (3) many fine reports and beautiful deeds about him. May Allah Most High have mercy on him and be pleased with him.

Then the year 293 AH began.

In that year: A host of Qarmatians, Bedouins, brigands, and desert-dwellers along the Euphrates rallied around the brother of al-Ḥusayn the Qarmaṭī, nicknamed Dhū al-Shāma—whose death we mentioned in the previous year. With them he spread corruption throughout the land. He then made for Tiberias; its people refused to admit him, so he forced his way in, killed a great many men, and seized an enormous amount of wealth, after which he turned back toward the desert.

Another detachment of the Qarmatians entered Hīt (4), massacred its inhabitants save for a few, and carried off vast riches which they loaded onto three thousand camels. The caliph al-Muktafī sent an army against them; the troops fought them, captured their leader, and struck off his head.

A man from among the Qarmatians, known as “the Missionary” (al-dāʿiya) in Yemen, arose. He besieged Ṣanʿāʾ, entered it by force, and killed a number of