1738 - Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Tarsusi informed me, saying: Ja'far ibn Ahmad narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn al-Harith narrated to us, saying: Zakariyya ibn al-Hakam narrated to us, from Ja'far ibn Muhammad, who said: Yahya al-Zimmi said: While I was coming from Khurasan, I slept at one of the caravanserais. Something immense appeared to me in my dream; it had two eyes in its chest, and its condition terrified me. I said: 'There is no god but Allah.' It said: 'O Yahya, you have spoken the truth; there is no god but Allah.' It continued: 'Then the two eyes moved to their proper place.' I said: 'Woe to you, who are you?' It said to me: 'O Yahya, do you not recognize me?' I said: 'No, and I do not care to recognize you. Who are you?' It said: 'I am Iblis.' I said to him: 'May you not be greeted with life, where have you come from?' He said: 'From Iraq.' I said to him: 'And which part of Iraq?' He said: 'Baghdad.' I said to him: 'What were you doing in Baghdad?' He said: 'I was appointing a deputy there.' I said: 'And who did you appoint?' He said: 'I appointed Bishr al-Mirrisi.' I said: 'And did you not find anyone more reliable than him to appoint?' He said to me: 'He has invited the people to something that, if I had invited them to it, they would not have answered me.' I said to him: 'To what did he invite them?' He said: 'To the createdness of the Qur'an.' I said to him: 'O cursed one, what do you say about the Qur'an?' He said to me: 'Fear Allah, O Yahya! Even if I disobey Allah, the Qur'an is the Speech of Allah, it is not created, nor is it unknown.' Abu Yahya said: Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: 'If one were to travel for this [narrative] to Khurasan or Egypt, it would be a small matter.'