627 — Al-Hasan ibn ‘Uthman informed us: Muhammad ibn Ja‘far al-Anbari narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Abi al-‘Awwam narrated to us: ‘Ali ibn al-Muwaffaq narrated to us: Abu ‘Amr al-Tammar narrated to me, saying:
“We had a Magian neighbor named Bahram. When he died, I saw him in a most hideous state. I said, ‘O Bahram!’ He replied in a faint voice, ‘Yes, I am Bahram, O Abu ‘Amr.’ I asked, ‘What has become of you?’ He said, ‘To its very depths ⦗406⦘.’ I asked, ‘Is anyone beneath you?’ He replied, ‘Yes: those who say that the Quran is created.’”
Abu Bakr—that is, Ibn Abi al-‘Awwam—said: “I later met Abu ‘Amr al-Tammar and asked him about this, and he related it to me just as ‘Ali ibn al-Muwaffaq had related it from him.”
628 — Ahmad ibn Hassun informed us: Ahmad ibn Sulayman informed us: Abu ‘Ali al-Qadi narrated to us, saying: “I heard ‘Ali ibn al-Muwaffaq say:
“I had a Magian neighbor, to whom I would present Islam, but he refused. He died adhering to Magianism, and said, ‘We are in the lowest depths of the Fire.’ I asked, ‘Is anyone beneath you?’ He replied, ‘Yes, a people from among you.’ I asked, ‘Which group are they from?’ He said, ‘Those who say that the Quran is created.’”