—al-Bawā’—into the air while they watch. They hear him speaking to the devil and the devil speaking to him. Anyone who laughs or chokes on the bread is struck by the tambourine, although they cannot see who is wielding it. The devil then tells them some of what they ask about and orders them to offer him cattle, horses, and other animals, strangling them without mentioning Allah’s name over them. When they do so, he fulfils their needs.

Another shaykh admitted that he used to commit fornication with women and sodomize boys known as “al-hiwārāt.” He used to say: “A black dog with two white spots between its eyes comes to me and says, ‘So-and-so, so-and-so has vowed an offering to you and will bring it tomorrow. I have fulfilled his need for your sake.’” The following morning, that person would bring him the vowed offering, and this unbelieving shaykh would disclose hidden matters to him.

He said: “Whenever I was asked to perform a transformation involving something such as labdanum, I would say, ‘Wait until I lose awareness.’ Suddenly, the labdanum would be in my hand or my mouth, without my knowing who had put it there.” He also said: “I used to walk with a black column before me, with a light upon it.”

When this shaykh repented and began praying, fasting, and avoiding forbidden acts, the black dog disappeared, and the transformations ceased: neither labdanum nor anything else was brought to him.

Another shaykh had devils whom he would send to possess certain people, and the family of that person would come