It is related from one of them who said:
I had always heard that al-Hallaj possessed extraordinary states and miraculous feats (1), so I wished to test him. I came, greeted him, and he said to me, “Express a desire to me this very moment (2).” I replied, “I crave some fresh fish.” He entered his house, remained inside for a while, and then came out (3) carrying a fish that was still flapping, mud clinging to his feet. He said, “I supplicated Allah, and He commanded me to go to the marshes so that I might bring you this fish (4); I waded through Ahwaz, and this mud is from there.”
I said, “If you will, let me enter your house so that I may uncover your affair (5); should I discover anything, otherwise I shall believe in you.” He said, “Enter.” I went in (6), yet found no passage leading anywhere else and was bewildered. Then I noticed a curtain (7); I lifted it and found a door behind it. I passed through and emerged into an immense garden (8) containing every kind of fruit, both fresh and well-preserved dried ones (9), all kept perfectly. There were many provisions ready to be eaten, and there was a large pool with an abundance of fish, small (10) and large. I entered the pool, caught one, and mud clung to my feet just as it had to his. I returned to the door and said, “Open up, for I have now believed in you.”
When I came out and he saw me in the same condition as himself, he chased after me intending to kill me, so I struck him in the face with the fish and said, “Enemy of Allah, you have exhausted me today.” After I escaped him, he later met me (11), smiled, and said, “Do not divulge this to anyone; otherwise I will send (12) someone to kill you while you are in your bed.” He (13) said: I did not relate it to [anyone] (14) until he was crucified (15).
‘Ali said to me: “By my vision, and by God’s favor of health, I will devote the remainder of my life to jihad (struggle in God’s path) and to the pilgrimage (hajj) to the House of God with our brothers, the abdal (spiritual substitutes) and the righteous whom we know.” He then urged them to give him of their wealth until their spirits were content. When al-Hallāj left them, that man remained for a time until they had collected for him a large sum—thousands in gold and silver. Once he had what he wanted, he took his leave and departed, then went to al-Hallāj, and they divided the money between them.
(1) Text omitted between two redaction marks in the manuscript.
(2) In the manuscript: “Do you yearn for anything at this hour?”
(3) Text omitted between two redaction marks in the manuscript.
(4) Text omitted between two redaction marks in the manuscript.
(5) In the manuscript: “If you wish, you may admit me to your home so that I may see and thus strengthen my conviction.”
(6) In the manuscript: “I entered; he closed the door on me and sat watching me. I searched the house but found nothing.”
(7) Ta‘zīrah: a reinforcing element affixed to the base of a wall, serving like a skirting board.
(8) In the manuscript: “Then I looked and saw a ta‘zīrah—clad in an izār saj. I moved it, and it swung shut; it proved to be a hidden door. I entered, and it opened onto a vast orchard.”
(9) In the manuscript: “al-‘Atīqah” (the old one).
(10) Text omitted between two redaction marks in the manuscript.
(11) In the manuscript: “After a few days.”
(12) In the manuscript: “Do not divulge what you saw to anyone, or I will have you summoned.”
(13) In the manuscript: “He said: And I understood that he would act if I revealed it to him, so I remained silent…”
(14) Text omitted between two redaction marks in the manuscript.
(15) Nashwat al-Muḥāḍarah, vol. 1: 165–168; and Tārīkh Baghdād, vol. 8: 123–124.