The point is that there are many gods, and the ways in which they are worshipped are varied. In general, whatever a person desires and loves must be conceived in his mind. That mental image moves him towards what he loves and towards all that love entails. Whoever worships it worships other than Allah, and devils appear to him in the form of the one he worships. This is widespread and has always been so. Thus, anyone who worships anything other than Allah is, in fact, worshipping Satan. This is why Satan aligns himself with the sun when it rises, sets, and reaches its zenith, so that those who worship it prostrate to him.

The “devils” would assume the forms of those being worshipped, just as they would speak to people from the idols they worshipped. Likewise, in our own time, many people among those who profess Islam, Christians, and polytheists associate with Allah some of those whom they revere, whether living or dead, including shaykhs and others. Such a person calls upon the one he reveres and seeks his aid during that figure’s lifetime and after his death. He then sees him come to him, speak to him, and fulfil his need. Yet it is only a devil who has assumed his form to lead this polytheist astray.

As for those afflicted with “passionate love,” Satan continually presents the image of the beloved to them or assumes the beloved’s form. The lover thus continues to see the beloved’s image despite his absence, after his death. It is only Satan who has projected that image upon his heart. Hence, when a servant remembers Allah in a way that makes the retreating whisperer withdraw, this satanic apparition withdraws as well. At times, the image of the beloved takes such hold of the lover that he sees nothing else and hears nothing but its words, leaving