# At Abdul Ali's Grave explained — Ghost Stories > Chapter companion for Ghost Stories by E. F. Benson. ## What happens The narrator and Weston witness Achmet exhuming the body of Abdul Ali to use black magic to learn the location of hidden money. Despite the supernatural attempt, the dead man's clenched teeth and fluttering eyelids terrify the observers, leading to Achmet's capture. The money is later found tied around the corpse's shoulder, and two black cubes used in the ritual are thrown into the Nile. ## Themes in this chapter ### Supernatural and Occult The chapter centers on a black magic ritual to raise the dead, involving the use of luminous cubes and a spirit impersonation. ### Death and the Afterlife The desecration of Abdul Ali's grave and the attempt to communicate with his corpse highlight themes of death and the boundary between life and death. ### Fear and Terror The narrator experiences intense horror at the sight of the dead man's lips moving and eyelids fluttering, and the overall atmosphere is one of dread. ## Character check-ins ### Unknown Narrator The narrator observes Achmet's grave-robbing and black magic ritual, and later disposes of the black cubes. ### Weston Weston accompanies the narrator, impersonates the Spirit of Black Magic, and later suggests informing the police. ### Sandy The deceased Abdul Ali, whose body is exhumed and subjected to a black magic ritual to reveal the location of his money. ### Achmet The grave-robber and practitioner of black magic who attempts to raise Abdul Ali's spirit to learn the secret of the treasure. ### Machmout The clairvoyant servant who uses an ink-mirror for white magic and reacts with terror when given the black cubes. ### Mohamed Abdul Ali's son, who suspects Achmet of knowing the money's location and later finds the notes tied to the corpse. ## Key lines > Certain I am that the lips of the dead moved, and the eyelids fluttered for a moment like the wings of a wounded bird, but at that sight, the horror so grew on me that I was physically incapable of stifling the cry that rose to my lips I am absolutely sure that the dead man's lips moved and his eyelids twitched briefly, like a bird's wings, but seeing that filled me with such terror that I could not help crying out. _The narrator describes the horrifying moment when Abdul Ali's corpse appears to show signs of life during the black magic ritual._ > Weston turned on me angrily, dropping the eyes and the teeth of the Afreet. 'You spoiled it all,' he cried. Weston angrily dropped the Afreet's eyes and teeth and exclaimed that I had ruined everything. _Weston's reaction to the narrator's cry, which interrupted the ritual._ > The only other point of interest lies in the two black cubes which we picked up, and found to be graven with curious characters. These I put one evening into Machmout’s hand, when he was exhibiting to us his curious powers of 'thought transference.' The effect was that he screamed aloud, crying out that the Black Magic had come The only other notable thing was the two black cubes we found, engraved with strange symbols. When I gave one to Machmout during his thought transference demonstration, he screamed and said the Black Magic had arrived. _The black cubes used in the ritual cause a violent reaction in the clairvoyant Machmout._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ghost_stories_se/chapters/at-abdul-ali-s-grave - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ghost_stories_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ghost_stories_se/chapters