He also said, “If the man who killed my son were to come before me perfectly at ease with what he had done, he would find me even more at ease than he.”

Among his other outrageous remarks are the following: “A beardless youth who sets my sandals in front of me is dearer to me than your approval, and a whore’s quarter is, in my eyes, lovelier than the page-boys. I long—before I die—to taste passionate love, even if only for the image of a stone. I recline bewildered, wholly preoccupied with love!”

Ibn Isrāʾīl relates: “The shaykh once said to me, ‘What is the meaning of the Exalted One’s words, Whenever they kindle a fire for war, Allah extinguishes it (1)?’ I replied, ‘My master will explain.’ He said, ‘Woe to you! Who is the one who kindles and who is the one who puts it out? No one hears God’s speech except from you—within you. So erase your ‘I-ness.’”

ʿAlī ibn Anjab states in his History (2): “The mendicant al-Ḥarīrī was a remarkable shaykh. He used to associate with youths, and it was said of him that he was an antinomian who recognised no restraints. He wrought corruption, the jurists condemned his conduct, yet he enjoyed enormous popular acceptance.”

It is also reported from al-Ḥarīrī: “If we were to strike off your neck for such a statement and curse you, we would still believe we were in the right.”

Among those who championed him and bowed to his alleged unveilings was Imām Abū Shāmah (3), who said, “He fulfilled the obligations of the Sacred Law—outwardly and inwardly—in a way unknown to any of the legal scholars. Most people are mistaken about him. He could see what is hidden in the breasts, for Allah had disclosed to him the secrets of His friends.”