the royal household, and among the pages of Naṣr al-Qushūrī the chamberlain, claiming before them that he could raise the dead, that the jinn served him, and that they brought him whatever he wished or desired. (1)

He also maintained that he had restored several birds to life. Word reached ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā that a man named Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Qunnāʾī (2) the scribe worshipped al-Hallāj and was urging others to do the same. He ordered the man’s arrest and had his house searched; [he was seized] (3) and confessed that he was one of al-Hallāj’s followers. In his home they found writings in al-Hallāj’s own hand, penned in gold ink on silk pages and bound in the finest leather. They also uncovered a casket (4) containing some of al-Hallāj’s excrement (5) and urine, other personal relics of his, and pieces of bread left from his provisions.

The vizier then sought permission from the caliph al-Muqtadir to deal with al-Hallāj; the caliph delegated the matter to him. He summoned a group of al-Hallāj’s adherents, threatened them, and they admitted to him that they were certain he was divine (6) and that he raised the dead. They confronted al-Hallāj with these claims (7), but he disavowed them (8) and declared them false, saying, “I seek refuge in Allah from claiming lordship or prophethood. I am merely a man who worships Allah, engages abundantly (9) in fasting, prayer, and good works, and know nothing beyond that.” He would add nothing but the two testimonies of faith and the affirmation of divine oneness, and was often heard saying, “Glory be to You; there is no god but You. I have done wrong and wronged myself, so forgive me, for none forgives sins except You.”

He wore a black woolen cloak (10) and had thirteen shackles on his legs that reached up to his knees. They reported that, even in this condition, he performed a thousand units of prayer every day and night. (11)

Before Vizier Ḥāmid ibn al-ʿAbbās tightened security around him, al-Hallāj had been kept in a small room in the house of Naṣr al-Qushūrī the chamberlain, and anyone who wished could visit him. He would sometimes give his name as al-Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr and at other times as Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Fārisī. Naṣr the chamberlain had become enamored of him, assuming he was a righteous man, and had even taken him in to see Caliph al-Muqtadir, upon whom he performed incantations for an ailment; the malady disappeared from the caliph (12) and likewise from his mother, the noble lady Umm al-Muqtadir, whose illness also abated. His prestige thus rose and he found favor in the royal household. But when reports about him spread, he was handed over to Vizier Ḥāmid ibn al-ʿAbbās, who confined him with numerous fetters on his legs,