And the misguided unbelievers—whether apostates or idolaters—such as Musaylima the Liar, al-Aswad al-ʿAnsi, al-Ḥarith the Damascene, Baba the Roman, and others like them, also produce preternatural feats that come from Satan.

As for the professional tricksters, they are many. These people are certainly not friends of Allah; when the wonders they display do have a satanic element, they are of the very same sort as the feats of soothsayers and magicians. In truth they possess no genuine satanic "state" at all, only fabricated imposture. They knowingly invent lies and spread confusion. This differs from those with whom devils actually make contact, for among that group are some who become deluded and imagine that what happens to them belongs to the miracles granted to the righteous, while others are fully aware that their feats come from devils but exploit them to achieve their own purposes.

The point, then, is that many extraordinary occurrences either proceed from devils or are nothing but ruses and contrived performances, even though people may mistake them for the honorific signs granted to the pious. Anything that carries the taint of polytheism or immorality is inevitably from Satan—for instance, when a man associates partners with Allah by calling upon the stars, or by invoking a created human being who is dead or absent; when he recites charms and oaths using unknown names whose meanings he does not understand—or that he knows to be the names of devils—or when he seeks aid through lewdness and injustice. Any supernatural event that arises from such causes is from Satan, as has been explained in detail elsewhere.