[المَرُّوذِيّ:] سَمِعْتُ هَذَا مِنْ رَجُلٍ بِطَرَسُوس. 88.1

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I heard this from a man in Tarsus. 88.1

أنا من اليمن، ولي ابنة أصابها مسّ من الجن. أحضرتُ بعض الرّاقين فأخرجوا الجنّيّ منها، وأخذوا عليه العهد ألّا يعود. لكنّه عاد بعد سنة كاملة.

“I’m from Yemen, and I have a daughter who was possessed. I brought in some exorcists who drove out her jinni and made it promise not to return. But then a year later it came back.

«أَلَمْ تَعِدْ أَلَّا تَعُودَ؟» سَأَلْتُ.

“‘Didn’t you promise not to come back?’ I asked.

“فَقَالَ الْجِنِّيُّ: نَعَمْ، لَكِنَّ رَجُلًا اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ حَنْبَلٍ قَدْ مَاتَ فِي الْعِرَاقِ، وَقَدْ ذَهَبَتِ الْجِنُّ كُلُّهَا—إِلَّا الشَّيَاطِينَ، مِثْلِي—لِتُصَلِّيَ عَلَيْهِ. وَلَنْ أَعُودَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ.» وَلَمْ يَعُدْ أَبَدًا. وَقَدْ وَصَلَتْ إِلَيْنَا هَذِهِ الْحِكَايَةُ أَيْضًا بِرِوَايَةٍ أُخْرَى.”

“‘I did,’ said the jinni. ‘But a man named Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal has died in Iraq and all the jinns—except for the demons, like me—have gone to pray over him. But I won’t be back again.’ “He never returned.” This story has also come down to us in another telling.