Before dawn, the jailers entered and beat me and my companions extensively with whips. They took one of us to a room with other prisoners, a black man who showed signs of illness. I started talking to him, asking about his condition. He raised his head and told me, "You will soon see the truth of what I say." I told him, "All colors belong to God. If I wished, I could have made myself white, but I chose blackness out of humility to God Almighty." Then I saw another man, clean and presentable, and I asked him, "Have you heard what this man is saying?" He replied, "Yes, he is claiming to be the Mahdi, peace be upon him." I said to him, "This matter is strange. Does this liar believe that his claim will be believed?" Then I saw Ahmad Al-Fahl and his companion, whom we have spoken of before, laughing. They had escaped from Sultan Pasha. I asked them why they were laughing. They told me that the man you are talking to and complaining to about your situation is named Abu Libada. He told me, "Why are you being beaten?" I said, "I don't know." He then said to me, "You people, sons of the countryside, do not abandon your faith and your customs."