out to hunt birds; the sparrows and other small birds speak to him and plead, “Take me so the poor may eat me.” In fact, it is a devil that has entered those birds—just as he can enter human beings—and it is that devil who addresses the man.

Another person may be sitting inside a house whose doors are shut, yet he suddenly finds himself outside without having opened the door, and the opposite may also occur; the same can happen with the city gates. The jinn have whisked him in and out at great speed, or they show him dazzling lights, or they bring before him the very people who are looking for him—when in truth these are only devils assuming the form of his companions. But as soon as he recites the Throne Verse repeatedly, every last apparition vanishes.

I know of someone else whom a voice addresses, saying, “I am from the command of Allah,” promising him that he is the Mahdī (the rightly guided one) foretold by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Wonders are then displayed before him: if he merely thinks of directing birds or swarms of locusts in the sky, they veer right or left exactly as he wills; if he wishes cattle to rise, lie down, or move, they do so without any outward signal from him. The unseen forces carry him to Mecca and bring him back; they present visitors of striking beauty and tell him, “These are the cherubic angels who have come to see you.” He wonders to himself, “How have they appeared in the likeness of smooth-faced youths?” then lifts his head and sees that the figures now have beards. The voice goes on: “The proof that you are the Mahdī is that a mole will sprout on your body,” and a mole indeed appears before his eyes. And so it goes—yet every bit of it is nothing but the deceit of the devil.