He traveled with us throughout our day until we overlooked the Arch of Khosrow (Iwan Kisra) and his palace. He encamped in its courtyard as the sun had set and spent the night there. Then he returned, mounted his mule, and began circling the palace of Khosrow and its ruins until he stopped at the Arch and entered it. He turned to me and said: "O Jabir, have you seen in the Hijaz such latticework and construction?" I said: "No, O Amir Almuminin. Truly, in the land of the Persians there are great things that people are unable to replicate." He, Mighty is His Might, said: "And there shall be after them those who bring forth traces greater than theirs, a kingdom greater than theirs, and a tyranny greater than theirs."

I said: "My Master, what became of the one who built these palaces, constructed them, elevated them, fortified them, and sought protection through them? How little they protected him from his misfortunes or averted his fate." He said: "O Jabir, would you like to see him?" I said: "And how is that possible for me?"

He called out in the center of the Arch: "O Khosrow ibn Yani!" By God, he had not finished his words and his call before I saw a skull approaching from the front of the Arch, rolling along with a sound like the crashing of thunder. I saw it—it was large, and I had never seen anything more terrifying or immense. It rolled until it reached the front of the mule, and it spoke with an audible voice: "Here I am, Khosrow ibn Yani. I ruled the land of Babylon, trod the lands, conquered kings, led armies, erected buildings, and inhabited the ruins. Matters were submissive to me; I debased and ennobled, strengthened and weakened, bestowed and withheld. No one overcame me but that I conquered him, no one vied with me but that I broke him, and no one shared with me but that I nullified him. I possessed all of that time and again; then it was taken from me with the swiftest ease and in the shortest time. I acted tyrannically toward the All-Compelling Tyrant, so He broke me. I acted proudly toward the Supreme Proud One, so He conquered me. He exchanged every blessing for misery, every luxury for hardship, and every arrogance for humiliation. He settled me in the place of vermin and beasts, and made my home the thickets and hills."