The Devils Deception by Imam Ibn AL-Jawzi

T H E D E V I L ' S
D E C E P T I O N S
and shown it. He admitted that it was his script and that the letter
had been written by him. They said: You used to claim prophethood
(al-nabiiwah) and now you claim divinity (al-rubiib[yyah). He said: I do
not claim divinity; only this is the essence of the mystic state according
to us. Is the writer any but Allah, while his hand therein is an
instrument?
He was asked whether there were any people with him. He said
Yes, Ibn 'Ata', Abii Mu}:iammad al-Jurairi, and Abii Bakr al-Shibli.
The second and the third are in hiding, so if there be anyone, it will
be Ibn 'Ata'. Al-Jarairi was produced and asked; he said: The man
who says that is an unbeliever, and should be put to death. Shibli
was asked and said: He who says that should be stopped, Ibn 'Ata'
was asked about al-l:lallaj's assertion and adhered to it; this was the
cause of his execution.
There is a tradition going back to Ibn Bakiiyah according to which
he said: I heard 'fsa Ibn Barzul narrate: when Abii 'Abdullah Ibn
Khafif was asked about the sense of the following verses.
Praise be to him whose manhood here displays
The secret of his godhead's piercing rays;
Plainly himself he manifested then
As one who eats and drinks like other men.
So that his creatures glancing at His sheen
Their dazzled vision with their eyelids screen,
He said, May the Curse of Allah be on their author. 'Isa Ibn Barzul
said they were the verses of al-l:Iusayn Ibn Maiir. He added: If this
be his belief, then he is an unbeliever (lea.fir); only the verses may be falsely
attributed to him.
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