from a special degree of divine friendship to the ordinary level; at times he is lowered to the rank of the flagrantly sinful, and at other times he actually turns away from Islam altogether. This occurs in those whose extraordinary phenomena are satanic in origin, for many of them do apostatize, while many others never realize that what they experience is demonic. Instead, they imagine these happenings to be among the miracles granted to the friends of Allah. Some of them even assume that when Allah —the Mighty and Majestic— grants a servant a breach of normal causation, He will not take him to account for it, just as others suppose that if Allah gives someone sovereignty, wealth, and influence, He will not question him about it.
Among them are those who make use of their extraordinary abilities for matters that are merely permissible, neither commanded nor forbidden. Such people belong to the broad category of Allah’s friends—the righteous who follow a moderate course. The forerunners who are brought near, however, stand above them, just as the servant-messenger is higher in rank than the kingly-prophet.
Because these extraordinary occurrences often diminish a person’s spiritual station, many of the pious repent of them and seek Allah’s forgiveness for them just as they repent from sins like adultery and theft. If such a wonder presents itself to one of them, he asks Allah to take it away. All of them instruct the aspiring disciple not to pause at these phenomena, not to make them his goal, and not to boast of them—even when they suppose them to be genuine miracles. How much more cautious should they be when, in truth, the experiences come from devils who use them to lead people astray!
I know of someone to whom plants speak, detailing the benefits they contain, yet it is only a devil inside them that is addressing him. I know of others whom stones and trees address, saying, “Congratulations, O friend of Allah,” but when he recites the Throne Verse, the manifestations disappear. And I know of someone who sets out