of solitary retreats conducted with a prescribed diet and particular observances. Such practices open the way for their practitioners to commune with the jinn and devils, and they mistake this for the miracles of the saints.

[His Satanic States]
In truth, however, these are satanic states. I know several people of this sort: some are carried through the air to distant places and then returned; some receive stolen money that the devils pilfer and bring to them; others are informed by those spirits of thefts that have occurred so that, for a fee or a gift, they can guide the owners to their stolen goods, and so on.

Because the states of such people come from Satan, they stand in opposition to the messengers—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them—as is plain in the writings of the author of al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyyah and Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam.

[His Praise of the Unbelievers]
In a similar vein he praises the unbelievers—such as the people of Noah, Hud, Pharaoh, and others—while belittling the prophets, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Aaron. He censures venerable Muslim masters whom the community holds in esteem, like Junayd ibn Muḥammad and Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Tustarī, and their peers.

Conversely, he exalts those whom the Muslims condemn, such as al-Ḥallāj and the like, as he relates in his fanciful, devil-inspired theophanies.

[His Doctrine Concerning the Eternal and the Originated]
Junayd—may Allah sanctify his soul—was one of the imams of guidance. When asked about monotheism he replied, “Monotheism is to distinguish the originated from the Eternal,” thereby making it clear that tawḥīd consists in differentiating between the Eternal and the originated, between the Creator and the creature.