324 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Munīb, the freedman of Quraysh, related to us, from Ibn Abī Maryam; he said: Ibn Abī al-Zinād informed us; he said: ʿAbbād ibn Isḥāq and Sulaymān ibn Suhaym both narrated to me, on the authority of Kaʿb al-Aḥbār, who said:

“Iblīs wormed his way to the whale upon whose back the whole earth rests and whispered into its heart, saying, ‘Do you know, O Luwaythā, what nations, trees, beasts, people, and mountains are riding on your back? If you were to shake yourself, you could hurl them all off at once.’

Luwaythā was about to do exactly that, but Allah sent a creature which entered through the whale’s nostril and reached its brain. The whale cried out to Allah for relief, whereupon the creature withdrew.

Kaʿb added, ‘By Him in Whose hand is my soul, the whale still looks at that creature before it, and the creature looks back at him; should the whale ever even think of repeating the act, the creature would return to its former position.’”