2148 – ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ahmad reported: al-Ḥusayn ibn Ismāʿīl told us; Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf narrated to us; ʿAbd Allah ibn Muḥammad—meaning Ibn al-Mughīra—narrated to us; Mālik ibn Mighwal narrated from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said:

“While I was walking along the outskirts of Badr, a man suddenly rose out of the ground. A chain was fastened around his neck, and at the other end of it stood a black man holding a sledgehammer. The chained man cried, ‘Servant of Allah, give me water!’

Ibn ʿUmar continued: I could not tell whether he actually recognized me or was merely using the common address ‘Servant of Allah’ that one man uses for another. The black man then said to me, ‘Servant of Allah, do not give him any water.’ He jerked the chain sharply, and the two of them sank back into the earth together.

Ibn ʿUmar said: When I returned, I informed the Prophet—blessings and peace be upon him—of what I had seen. He asked, ‘And you really saw that?’ Then he said, ‘That was Abū Jahl; this is his torment until the Day of Resurrection.’ Ibn ʿUmar added: He kept striking him with the sledgehammer until he buried him in the ground.”