314 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; he said: My father related to me; he said: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Qurashī narrated to us; he said: Faḍālah b. Ḥuṣayn al-Ḍabbī informed us; he said: the maid-servant of ʿĀʾishah told me:

“We were with ʿĀʾishah—may Allah be pleased with her and her father—attending to some of her hair when a woman asked permission to enter. She said, ‘Mother of the Believers, I appeal to Allah—and to you—⦗201⦘,’ and she bared her neck. There, clinging to it, was a black snake. She went on: ‘Whenever I try to remove it, it opens its mouth and I fear it will swallow me.’

ʿĀʾishah said, ‘Woe to you! What have you done?’

The woman replied, ‘Mother of the Believers, I will not lie to you. My husband was away, so I committed adultery, became pregnant, gave birth, and then killed the child. When I reached such-and-such a place, this black creature fastened itself to my neck.’

ʿĀʾishah ordered that it be torn from her, and they wrenched it off forcefully. Then she told her attendant, ‘Follow her until you find out where her companions are, and do not leave her until she arrives at the place where it first clung to her.’

He said: He went out with her until they reached that spot. There the serpent slipped from her neck, reared up on its tail, and let out a cry. Immediately some beasts came rushing; I thought they would descend upon the people of al-Riqaʿah. They made straight for the woman and devoured her flesh until I could see the whiteness of her bones, while the people of al-Riqaʿah were left unharmed.

The servant of ʿĀʾishah—may Allah be pleased with her—then returned and informed her of all that had happened.”