Nor does this state come upon them during prayer, remembrance of Allah, supplication, or Quran recitation. These states bring no benefit in religious or worldly affairs. If their states were of the same kind as those experienced by Allah’s righteous servants and His pious allies, they would arise during the religious acts of worship Allah has commanded. They would also bring religious and worldly benefits, such as multiplying food and drink in times of scarcity, bringing down rain when needed, and securing victory over enemies in times of danger.
Yet these people, with their deceptive satanic states, destroy blessings, intensify dangers, and consume people’s wealth wrongfully. They neither enjoin what is right nor forbid what is wrong, nor do they strive in Allah’s cause. Rather, they side with whoever gives to them, feeds them, and honours them—even if he is a Tatar. Indeed, they favour the Tatars over the Muslims and become their accursed helpers and supporters. Some of them seek to induce their state through forms of sorcery and associating partners with Allah, which Allah Most High and His Messenger have forbidden.
As for those among them who practise “trickery,” they prepare compounds using such substances as talq stone, frog fat, bitter-orange peel, and the like. They use these to walk on fire. They also handle a particular kind of snake, taking it as a morsel and wickedly venturing to eat it. Whatever they concoct from sugar, labdanum, rosewater, saffron water, and blood is all trickery and sleight of hand, recognizable to anyone versed in these matters. Some of them are visited by devils: these are the practitioners of satanic trickery.