burden.” Anyone who supposes that they are human does so out of ignorance and error. Human beings are perceptible—that is, they are witnessed and seen. A human may sometimes conceal himself, but he is not perpetually hidden from human sight. The jinn are different, as Allah says:

“He and his tribe see you from where you cannot see them.”

Other shaykhs related an account concerning Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Sakrān: when Hulagu, the king of the polytheists, entered Baghdad, Ibn al-Sakrān saw a shaven-headed shaykh, looking like one of the shaykhs of religion and the spiritual path, holding Hulagu’s horse by its bridle. He related:

“When I saw him, I disapproved of this and considered it outrageous that a Muslim shaykh should lead the horse of the king of the polytheists to kill Muslims. I said, ‘You there!’—or words to that effect. He then said, ‘Do you command this on orders?’ Or he said to him, ‘Is this being done on orders?’ or, ‘Did you do this on orders?’ I said, ‘Yes, on orders.’”

Ibn al-Sakrān fell silent, satisfied with this answer. This was because he knew little about distinguishing between the allies of the Most Merciful and the allies of Satan. He supposed that whatever the shaykhs were commanded to do in their hearts came from Allah; that when someone said, “My heart has narrated to me on the authority of my Lord,” Allah Himself was speaking privately to him; and that someone who said, “You have received your knowledge from the dead, who received it from the dead, whereas we have received our knowledge from the Ever-Living, who never dies,” was indeed speaking the truth. This is even further astray than claiming to have no need of the prophets or their mediation.

The answer is to ask him, “On whose orders do you command this?” If he says, “On Allah’s orders,”