- Ibn Abī al-Dunyā related: ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd narrated to us; ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār informed me, from ʿĀṣim who said: Zirr told me, saying, “I heard ʿAbd Allāh say:
A man from among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out and met Satan. They grappled and wrestled, and the Companion of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) threw him to the ground.
Satan pleaded, ‘Release me and I will tell you something astonishing that will please you.’
The Companion let him go and said, ‘Tell me.’
Satan answered, ‘No.’
They locked in combat a second time, and again the Companion of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) brought him down.
Satan said, ‘Release me so that I may relate to you something that will delight you,’ and he released him.
He said, ‘Then tell me.’ Satan replied, ‘No.’
They fought a third time, and once more the Companion of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) threw him down, then sat on his chest and seized his thumb, beginning to gnaw at it. Satan cried, ‘Let me go!’
He said, ‘I will not release you until you tell me.’
Satan said, ‘It is Sūrat al-Baqarah. There is no verse from it that is recited in the midst of devils without their scattering, and it is never recited in a house such that a devil can enter that house.’
They asked, ‘Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who was that man?’
He replied, ‘Who do you think it could have been but ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb?’