matter reached Nimrod the tyrant and the nobles of his people. They said therefore, ‘Bring him then to the eyes of men, that perchance they may bear witness against him that it is he that hath done this.’ And they disliked to arrest him without poof. ... When therefore they had brought him forward, they said unto him, ‘Hast thou done this unto our gods, O Abraham?‘ Abraham said, ‘On the contrary, the biggest of them did it: he was angry at your worshipping these little idols along with him, since he is bigger than them, therefore he dashed them in pieces. Do ye then inquire of them, if they can speak.’ The prophet — may God bless and preserve him! — hath said, ‘Abraham told only three lies, all of them on behalf of God Most High: when he said, "I am sick," and when he said, "On the contrary, this the biggest of them did it," and when to the king who purposed to take Sarah, he said, "She it my sister."’

"When therefore Abraham said this unto them, they returned to themselves; then they said, ‘Verily ye are the unjust persons. Here is this man of whom you are inquiring, and these your gods are present to whom he has done what he has done; therefore inquire of them.’ And that was what Abraham had said, ‘Do ye then inquire of them, if they can speak.’ Therefore his people said, ‘We do not find it otherwise than as he hath said,’ and it was said, ‘Verily ye are the unjust persons ¹, since ye worship

the small images along with this big one.’ Then they were turned upside down in their astonishment at this matter of his, and they knew that (the idols) do not speak and do not take by violence. Therefore they said, ‘Truly thou knowest that these do not speak.’ When therefore the argument which Abraham had brought against them had confuted them, he said to them, ‘Do ye then worship instead of God that which doth not profit you at all and doth not harm you? Shame on you and on that which ye worship instead of God! Do ye not then understand?’ When therefore this argument overcame them and they could not answer it, they said, ‘Burn ye ¹ him and aid your gods, if ye are active men.’ 'Abdu'llah ibn 'Umar has said that the person who urged them to burn Abraham in the fire was a Kurd. Shu'aibu'l Jabai says that his name was Dainun, and accordingly God Most High caused the earth to split open for him, and he was swallowed ² up therein until Resurrection Day. Accordingly when Nimrod and his people assembled to burn Abraham, they shut him up in a house and erected for him an edifice like a sheepfold. This is the statement of God: They said, ‘Build an edifice for him, then hurl him into the flames ³.’ Then they collected for him some of the hardest wood and different kinds of fuel."