that place and say to them, “What would you like me to bring you from this wilderness?” One of them would ask for fruit or sweets, and he would say, “Wait here.” Then he would go to that place and bring back what he had hidden, or some of it. Those present would imagine that this was a miracle granted to him. He practised sorcery, and devils would sometimes serve him. On one occasion, some people were with him on Mount Abū Qubays and asked him for sweets. He went somewhere nearby and returned with a plate of sweets. They investigated the matter and discovered that these had been stolen from a confectioner’s shop in Yemen: a devil had carried them from that place.

Such things frequently happen to people other than al-Hallāj who experience satanic states. We know many such people, both in our own time and in other times. One example is a man now in Damascus whom a devil used to carry from the mountain of al-Sālihiyya to a village near Damascus. He would come through the air to the window of a house where people were gathered and enter while they watched. At night, he would come to “Bāb al-Saghīr” and pass through it with his companions. He was among the most wicked of people.

Another man was in al-Shuwayk, in a village called “al-Shāhida.” He would fly through the air to the mountaintop while people watched; a devil was carrying him. He was also a highway robber. Most of these people are shaykhs of evil. One such person is called “al-Bawway,” meaning the wicked one. They stage performances for him on a dark night and make bread as offerings. They do not mention Allah, nor do they allow anyone who mentions Allah, or any book containing mention of Allah, to be present. Then that man ascends