how they had deceived various emirs, including the emir known as al-Aydamurī, Qifjaq, the sultan’s deputy, and others. They had also deceived al-Malik al-‘Ādil Kitghā, both during his reign and while he governed Hama, as well as the Master of Arms, the most eminent emir in Egypt. There was not enough time at the gathering to recount all their deceptions.
I described how they had deceived al-Aydamurī: they would send women to discover private matters within his household, then tell him about these matters as though they had received supernatural insight. They promised him kingship and promised to show him the “men of the unseen.” They made long wooden poles and had men walk on them, like a performer juggling glass balls. These men began walking on Mount al-Mazza, while he watched from afar, seeing people moving about the mountain raised above the ground. They took a great deal of money from him, but eventually their deception was exposed to him.
I said to the emir:
“His son, who serves in the army corps, knows about this; he was among those who told me this story. As for Qifjaq, they put a man inside a grave to speak, making him believe that the dead were speaking. In the cemeteries of Bāb al-Saghīr, they brought him to a man whom they claimed was the hairy man from Mount Lebanon. They did not let him approach the man, but kept him at a distance to receive his blessing. They said that the man had requested a large sum of money from him. Qifjaq said, ‘The shaykh perceives hidden things, and he knows that my treasuries do not contain that much.’ Qifjaq drew near him and pulled at the hair, whereupon the goatskin they had glued to his skin came away.”