(16) The earlier idol-worshippers would turn to Allah alone whenever calamity struck, never calling on anyone else, because they knew that none can rescue from distress but Him. Allah says: “When harm touches you at sea, all those you invoke besides Him vanish; yet when He brings you safely to land, you turn away—man is ever ungrateful” (al-Isra, 17:67). He also says: “When waves cover them like canopies, they call upon Allah, devoting their supplication purely to Him; but when He delivers them to land, some of them remain moderate” (Luqman, 31:32), and: “When He delivers them to land, they immediately associate partners with Him” (al-Ankabut, 29:65). Hence the first pagans practised shirk only in times of ease, imploring idols, stones and trees; yet when death seemed imminent they invoked none of these creatures, calling upon Allah alone. If only Allah delivers from calamities, how can anyone call upon other than Him in times of prosperity? By contrast, the polytheists of our own age—those later generations of the Muslim community among whom shirk has reappeared—persist in their idolatry both in prosperity and adversity. They never devote themselves solely to Allah, even in desperate situations; the graver the crisis, the more intense their shirk and their cries to al-Hasan, al-Husayn, Abd al-Qadir, al-Rifai and others. This is well known, and astonishing tales are reported from them at sea: when danger worsens they shout the names of saints and righteous men, seeking their help instead of Allah. The propagators of falsehood assure them, “We will save you from the sea; if disaster strikes, invoke our names and we will deliver you.” Such stories are related by the shaykhs of certain Sufi orders; consult, if you wish, Tabaqat al-Shaarani, whose pages make the skin shiver with what he terms the saints’ karamat (miraculous feats), and that they…