393. ʿAbd Allah narrated to us—my father narrated to me—Sayyār narrated to us—Jaʿfar narrated to us—from Thābit al-Bunānī, who said:

“It has reached us that Iblis once appeared to Yahya son of Zakariya, peace be upon him. Yahya saw that he was covered with hooks of every sort and asked, ‘What are these hooks I see hanging from you?’ He replied, ‘They are the passions by which I ensnare the children of Adam.’

Yahya said, ‘Do I have any share in them?’ He answered, ‘No.’ He asked, ‘Then do you ever manage to get at me in any way?’ He said, ‘Sometimes, when you eat to satiety, we weigh you down and keep you from prayer and remembrance (dhikr).’

Yahya asked, ‘Anything besides that?’ He replied, ‘No.’ So Yahya declared, ‘By Allah, I shall never eat to fullness again.’”