It is also related that al-Hallaj (1) once said to a man, “Believe in me and I will send you a small bird that will take from its droppings (2) the weight of a single grain; place that upon so-and-so many pounds of copper and it will turn into gold.”

The man answered, “You believe in me first, and I will send you an elephant which, when it lies on its back, its legs reach the sky; and whenever you want to hide it you can put it inside one of your eyes.” Al-Hallaj was dumbfounded and fell silent (3).

When he reached Baghdad, he began calling people to himself and displaying various mukhāriq (4) (conjuring tricks) and other satanic feats. What he peddled found its greatest market among the Rāfiḍa—because of the meagerness of their intellects and their weakness (5) in distinguishing between truth and falsehood. One day he summoned a leading figure from among them and invited him to believe in him. The man replied, “I am someone who loves women; I am bald and grey-haired. If you can rid me of these two things, I will believe (6) that you are the infallible Imām. If you wish, I will declare you a prophet, and if you wish, I will say that you are Allah Himself.” Al-Hallaj was confounded and could give him no answer (7).

Shaykh Abū’l-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzī said: “Al-Hallaj (8) was a man of many colors. At times he would wear a musūḥ (9) (coarse woollen habit), at times a durrāʿa (10) (long tunic), and at times a qabāʾ (11) (outer cloak). With every group he adopted their doctrine—whether they were Sunnī, Rāfiḍa, Muʿtazila (12), or anything else. While residing in Ahwaz he used to spend coins that he produced, calling them ‘the coins of power.’

“Shaykh Abū ʿAlī al-Jubbāʾī was asked about this and said, ‘All of it is achieved by trickery. Lock him in a room that has no exit, and then ask him to bring you two bundles (13) of thistles.’ When al-Hallaj heard what Abū ʿAlī al-Jubbāʾī had said about him, he left Ahwaz (14).”