- Kūhiyy ibn al-Ḥasan reported to us; Aḥmad ibn al-Qāsim ibn Naṣr—brother of Abū al-Layth the specialist in the laws of inheritance—reported to us; he said: I heard al-Ḥārith ibn Asad al-Muḥāsibī al-Ghanawī saying to my father:
“O Qāsim, I was in the jabbāna (cemetery) of Basra with my father, standing by a grave, when I heard from within it a voice crying, ‘Oh! Oh! from the punishment of Allah, Exalted be He.’ My father said to me, ‘Woe to you—do you hear that, Ḥārith?’ I heard the same cry from the grave a second time. He then said, ‘Keep this grave in mind.’ He left, readied himself for the prayer, and came back. Then he told me, ‘You go now and get yourself ready.’ When he returned he said, ‘Go and bring me the gravedigger.’
When the gravedigger arrived he asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Jābir.’ He asked, ‘Do you know this grave?’ He answered, ‘Yes. I buried the woman who lies here twenty years ago, and her mother has been coming to visit her ever since; only this year she has not come.’
I said, ‘Do you know ⦗1218⦘ where her house is?’ He replied, ‘Yes, in the Mirbad.’ He said, ‘Take us to her home.’ We went to a ruined mansion, brought him inside, and he led out to us an elderly woman—her mother. He asked her, ‘Who of yours died twenty years ago?’ She said, ‘My daughter.’ He asked, ‘What was she accustomed to do?’ She replied, ‘Why are you asking me about that?’ We placed her under oath, and she said, ‘My daughter had a Christian companion. The two of them used to sleep on that raised platform inside my house. One night there was an earthquake and violent lightning. The Christian girl came down, saying, “I cannot bear this.” My daughter replied, “Leave us, so that we may crush the world to pieces.” The next morning she developed a fever and died two hours later. I have been visiting her grave for twenty years.”