Visions of Akarat

The Visions of Akarat is likely the "bible" of the Zakarum Church, or possibly one of the books of Akarat, the great prophet of the Zakarum religion.

Possible Introduction

Abd al-Hazir came across an Archivist in the ruins of the great city of Travincal, who read this opening paragraph that is a chronicle of the life of Akarat.

Here begins the first chronicle of the life of holy Akarat, prophet of Zakarum....[1]

It's possible that these are the opening lines of the Visions of Akarat, or it might be the first phrases of some other holy script related to the Zakarum.

Hammer of Ghrab Thaar

The Visions of Akarat tell of a hopeless battle, where nuns in a convent sacrificed themselves to defeat undead masses.

Legions of the undead had laid siege to a small convent of nuns who were the keepers of a sacred relic, the Hammer of Ghrab Thaar. Suspended over a fiery chasm within the convent, the sisters knew the Hammer to be a powerful vessel of the Light and vowed never to allow it to fall into the hands of evil.

With no weapons of their own, and no one to defend them, the nuns sacrificed themselves to destroy the hammer. Rather than let the undead despoil the church and the relic, they took the hammer and plunged themselves into the fiery chasm. At that moment, a powerful force of Light washed over the undead legion, striking them down where they stood. Since that time a well-trained Paladin is able to tap the remnants of this released energy, whirling a magical hammer to strike down his adversaries, especially the forces of the walking dead.

Reference

• Diablo II Manual
• Abd al-Hazir Entry no. 0041: The Archivist