The first appearance of al-Ḥalláj, according to the same authority, was in A.D. 911-2, ten years before his cruel execu­tion in A.D. 922. He was betrayed at Sús by a woman who had observed from her house the assemblies which frequented his domicile, and, though he strove to deny his identity, he was recognised by one of his former disciples by a certain scar resulting from a wound on his head. After he had been scourged with a thousand stripes, and his hands and feet cut off, he was put to death, and his body burnt with fire.

According to 'Aríb, al-Ḥalláj pretended to be all things to all men—a Sunní to the Sunnís, a Shí'í to the Shí'a, and a Mu'tazi- 'Aríb's account of al-Ḥalláj. lite to the Mu'tazilites. Medicine, as well as Alchemy and Conjuring, is numbered amongst his accomplishments. He claimed to be an In­carnation of God, “and grievous were his calumnies against God and His apostles.” To his disciples he would say, to one, “Thou art Noah;” to another, “Thou art Moses;” to another, “Thou art Muḥammad;” adding, “I have caused their spirits to return to your bodies.” The historian aṣ-Ṣúlí, who had himself repeatedly met al-Ḥalláj, described him as “an ignorant fellow who pretended to be clever, an unready speaker who would pass as eloquent, and a rogue who clothed himself in woollen raiment (ṣúf) and made a parade of piety.”

*

To what has been said about him, Ibn Miskawayh and the Kitábu'l-'Uyún (cited by de Goeje at the foot of 'Aríb's less detailed notice) add the following particulars. The atten­tion of Ḥámid the wazír was directed to al-Ḥalláj by rumours of the influence which he was obtaining over the lower grades of officials and the common folk, who believed that he raised the dead to life, compelled the jinn to serve him and to bring Accounts of Ibn Miskawayh and the Kitábu'l-'Uyún. him whatever he pleased, and performed such miracles of the former prophets as he pleased. Three persons, one as-Simarí, a scribe and a Há-shimite, were indicated as his “prophets” (nabí), he himself claiming to be God; and these, being arrested and interrogated by Ḥámid, admitted that they were his mission­aries and regarded him as God, able to raise the dead to life. All this was strenuously denied by al-Ḥalláj, who was at this time confined in prison, but allowed to receive whom he would, and who, besides his proper name, was known by the alias of Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Fárisí. A daughter of his “prophet” as-Simarí gave a detailed and most damaging statement of his sayings and practices, and in the houses of as-Simarí, Ḥaydara, and al-Qunná'í the Háshimite were found many of his writings, some inscribed with gold on Chinese paper,* brocade and silk, and richly bound in morocco. Then two of his missionaries in Khurásán, named Ibn Bishr and Shákir, were arrested, and the instructions which al-Ḥalláj had issued to them and his other agents were found, whereby the case was made heavier against him. Other of his pretended miracles are related, as, for instance, how he could expand his body so as to fill the whole room where he was, and how he restored a dead parrot to life for the Caliph al-Muqtadir, who was so far impressed by his achievements that he was very unwilling to consent to his death. Al-Ḥalláj was a great traveller, and visited India in order to see the celebrated Rope Trick, in which a rope is thrown up into the air and the performer (in this case a woman) climbs up it and disappears. Another of the heresies discovered by Hámid in his books consisted in elaborate in­structions whereby the ceremony of the Pilgrimage could be performed anywhere, in a room specially prepared for the purpose; which heresy, along with others, he pretended to have derived from the writings of Ḥasan of Baṣra. On this he was condemned to the cruel death above mentioned (scourg­ing, amputation, decapitation and cremation), and the execution thereof was entrusted to the Captain of the Guard (Ṣáḥibu' sh-Shurṭa) Muḥammad b. 'Abdu'ṣ-Ṣamad, who was specially cautioned not to give ear or pay heed to anything that he might say. After his head had been exposed for a while on the bridge over the Tigris, it was sent to Khurásán; but his disciples there maintained (as did the Gnostics, and after them the Muhammadans, concerning Christ)* that not he, but one of his foes transformed into his likeness, suffered death and mutilation; and some of them even pretended to have seen and conversed with him since his reported death. The book­sellers were made to take an oath that they would neither buy nor sell any of his writings. The period of his captivity from his first arrest till his execution was eight years seven months and eight days.

The following further particulars from al-Hamadhání are added by de Goeje at the foot of his edition of 'Aríb (pp. 96-101). Al-Ḥalláj's disciple as-Simarí, examined by Ḥámid, stated that his master had in mid-winter, when travelling with him near Iṣṭakhr in Fárs, produced a fresh cucumber for him out of the snow, and that he had actually eaten it; whereupon Ḥámid cursed him for a liar and commanded those who were present to smite him on the mouth. Another witness stated that the fruits apparently produced from nothing by al-Ḥalláj turned to dung as soon as men took them in their hands. There was a great flood in the Tigris shortly after his execution, and his followers declared that this was because the ashes of his burnt body had been cast into the river; while some of them pre­tended to have seen him on the road to Nahruwán riding on an ass, and to have heard him say that a beast transformed into his likeness had undergone the punishment destined for him. Amongst the Arabic verses of al-Ḥalláj cited are the follow­ing (p. 97):—

“Ne'er for my heart did I comfort or pleasure or peace obtain:
Wherefore, indeed, should I seek them, prepared as I was for
pain?
I mounted the steed of a perilous quest, and wonder is mine
At him who hopeth in hazardous pathways safety to gain.

'Tis as though I were caught in waves which toss me about,
Now up, now down, now down, now up in the perilous main.
There burns a fire in my vitals, there dwells a grief in my
heart;
Summon my eyes to witness, for my tears bear witness plain.”

Some of the Ṣúfís, adds al-Hamadhání, claim that to al-Ḥalláj was revealed the Mystery, yea the Mystery of all Mysteries. He is reported to have said, “O God, Thou lovest even such as vex Thee: how then shalt Thou not love such as are afflicted for Thy sake?” On one occasion Ibn Naṣr al-Qushúrí was sick, and desired to eat an apple, but none were to be obtained, till al-Ḥalláj stretched forth his hand and drew it back with an apple which he claimed to have gathered from the gardens of Paradise. “But,” objected a bystander, “the fruit of Paradise is incorruptible, and in this apple there is a maggot.” “This,” answered al-Ḥalláj, “is because it hath come forth from the Mansion of Eternity to the Abode of Decay: therefore to its heart hath corruption found its way!” The author adds that those present applauded his answer more than his achievement; and, after reporting a conversation between him and ash-Shiblí, states that the name al-Ḥalláj (“the wool-carder”) was meta­phorical, and was given to him because he could read man's most secret thoughts, and extract from their hearts the kernel of their imaginings as the wool-carder separates the cotton-grains from the cotton. Others, however, say that the name was given to him by a wool-carder at Wásiṭ whom he had miraculously assisted in his work. The Súfís differ as to whether he was of them or not. During his execution a woman named Fáṭima of Níshápúr was sent to him by ash-Shiblí (a recognised saint of the Ṣúfís) to ask him, amongst other things, what Ṣúfíism was; to which he replied: “That which is mine, for by God I never distinguished for a moment between pleasure and pain!”

The following additional particulars from Ibnu'l-Jawzí are also given by de Goeje at the foot of 'Aríb's text (pp. 101-8). On Wednesday and Thursday, December 1-2, A.D. 912, al-Ḥalláj was crucified alive on the east shore of the Tigris, and on the two following days on the west side.* In the following year (having, it would appear, been released after this first severe punishment) he was arrested again at Sús with one of his followers, and brought into Baghdad on a camel as a public spectacle, while a herald proclaimed before him, “This is one of the dá'ís of the Carmathians: take note of him!” His subsequent examination before the wazír 'Alí b. 'Ísá is described as on p. 429 supra, and his second crucifixion and imprisonment. Again, under the year A.H. 309 (A.D. 921-2), in recording his death, the same author adds some further details. Al-Ḥalláj, whose grandfather is said to have been a Magian of Bayḍá (“the White Castle,” Dizh-i-Sapía) in Fárs, was brought up in Wásiṭ or Shushtar. Later he came to Baghdad, and associated with the Ṣúfís, including their great Shaykhs al-Junayd and Sufyán ath-Thawrí. Then he travelled widely in India, Khurásán, Transoxiana, and Turkistán. Men differ concerning him, some regarding him as a magician, others as a saint able to work wonders, and others as an impostor. The opinion of Abú Bakr aṣ-Ṣúlí concerning him, recorded on p. 430 supra, is cited again in nearly the same words. His professed object in visiting India was, according to a contemporary traveller who sailed in the same ship with him, to study magic; and he declared himself able to compose verses equal to those of the Qur'án—rank blas­phemy worthy of death in the eyes of all good Muslims! Ibnu'l-Jawzi then mentions that he had composed a mono­graph on the sayings and doings of al-Ḥalláj, to which he refers the reader for further information. The same heresies (Incarnation, “Return” or Re-incarnation, and Anthropo­morphism) are charged against al-Ḥalláj as by the authors already cited. His execution is stated to have taken place on Tuesday, March 26, A.D. 922. He walked fearlessly and even exultingly to the place of execution, reciting the following verses (see p. 363 supra):—