Likewise, anyone who claims that the Messiah came to him while he was fully awake and conversed with him about certain matters—as is said of Paul—must be told that, even if his report were true, the being he saw who declared, “I am the Messiah,” was nothing but a devil; the same has happened to more than one person.

The devil leads people astray only through the things he believes they will obey him in. Thus he addresses Christians with what accords with their religion, and he addresses those misguided Muslims whom he approaches with what matches their own convictions, guiding each of them toward whatever their creed disposes them to accept.

For this reason, when a Christian who seeks aid from George calls out to him, the devil appears in the likeness of George—or in the likeness of whatever eminent figure the Christians invoke, whether a patriarch, a bishop, or a monk. In the same way, when a misguided Muslim seeks help from a shaykh, the devil appears in the likeness of that shaykh. Indeed, he has appeared to a number of people I know in my own likeness and in the likeness of several other shaykhs who reported this concerning me, and he frequently assumes the form of