Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 17225 — It reached me that Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin

Sayyiduna Buraydah bin al-Husayb al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It reached me that Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) had caught a devil in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so I went to him and said: It has reached me that you caught a devil in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? He said: Yes. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entrusted the dates of charity to me, so I put them in a small room of mine, and then every day I began to find them diminishing. I complained about this to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said to me: "This is the work of the devil; lie in wait for him." So I lay in wait for him at night. When part of the night had passed, he came in the form of an elephant. When he reached the door, he entered through a gap in the door in a different form, then approached the dates and began swallowing them. I tightened my garments about me and seized him in the middle, and said: I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. O enemy of Allah! You pounced on the dates of charity and took them, although those people had more right to them than you. I will take you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) so that he may disgrace you. He then promised me that he would not come again. In the morning I went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he asked me: "What did your captive do?" I said: He promised me that he would not come again. He said: "He will certainly come again; lie in wait for him." So I lay in wait for him the second night as well; he did the same as before and I did the same as before, and he again promised that he would not come again, so I let him go. Then in the morning I went to inform the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and I found his caller calling out: Where is Mu'adh? He said to me: "O Mu'adh! What did your captive do?" I informed him, and he said: "He will certainly come again; lie in wait for him." So I lay in wait for him the third night too; he did the same as before and I did the same to him, and I said: O enemy of Allah! You promised me twice, and this is the third time. I will certainly take you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) so that he may disgrace you. He said: I am a devil with a family to support, and I have come to you all the way from Nusaybin; had I found anything short of it, I would not have come to you. We used to live in this city of yours until your companion (the Prophet) was sent. When two verses were revealed to him, they drove us away from it, and we settled in Nusaybin. These two verses are not recited in any house except that the devil does not enter it for three days. If you let me go, I will teach them to you. I said: Very well. He said: Ayat al-Kursi, and, at the end of Surah al-Baqarah, from the verse: "The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord" to the end of the surah. So I let him go. Then in the morning I went to inform the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and I found his caller calling out: Where is Mu'adh bin Jabal? When I came to him, he said to me: "What did your captive do?" I said: He promised me that he would not come again; then I told him what he had said. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "The wicked one spoke the truth, though he is a great liar." Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: After that I used to recite those two verses over them (the dates), and I found no decrease in them.