[96] "The third [story] in al-Khara'ij: It was narrated that there were nine or ten brothers in one of the Arab tribes who had one sister. They said to her: 'Everything that Allah provides us, we will lay it before you, so do not desire marriage, for our protectiveness does not accept that.' She agreed with them in that and was content to serve them, and they honored her. One day she menstruated, and when she became pure, she wanted to bathe. She went out to a spring near their tribe, and a leech came out of the water and entered her body while she was in the water. Days passed by, and the leech grew until her belly swelled. The brothers thought that she was pregnant and had betrayed them, so they wanted to kill her. Some of them said: 'Let us bring her matter to Ali bin Abi Talib, for he takes charge of that.'

They brought her out to his presence and said regarding her what they suspected. He brought a basin filled with mud (al-ham'ah) and commanded her to sit upon it. When she felt the smell of the mud, the leech came down from her body. They said: "O Ali, you are our Lord the Most High (Al-Ali), for you know the Unseen," so he rebuked them.