He tells the people of Basra that they were an army under a woman and a beast: when the beast bellowed they rushed forward, and when it was wounded they fled. He calls them low in character and breakers of covenants, whose outward religion is one thing and inner reality another. Their land’s water is salty; whoever resides among them is trapped in nets of sin, while whoever leaves them attains his Lord’s mercy. He vividly foresees their city submerged under punishment from above and below so that only the mosque’s upper parts remain visible like the prow of a ship or the breast of a bird on the surface of the sea. He adds that their town is the filthiest in soil and foulest in smell, near to the sea yet far from the sky; nine‑tenths of evil are found there, and whoever enters is captive in sin, while whoever departs shares in a divine favour.